The Assignments tab allows you to define and manage project-level assignments for employees, vendors, activities, expense items, rules, and contacts. These assignments help control visibility across CORE, particularly in time and expense entry screens. By assigning specific resources (employees or vendors), activity items, and expense items to the project, CORE limits user access to only the relevant options during time and expense entry. This ensures greater accuracy, reduces entry errors, and streamlines the workflow for users by showing only the appropriate project data based on their role or assignment. Check out Project Assignments for details.
Adds a project to the Invoices screen for billing whether it has unbilled, approved time and expenses or not. This allows you to include, for instance, completed and yet-to-start projects on a joint invoice. When the project status is changed to 'Completed' or 'Canceled' and there is no unbilled time and expenses, this rule is automatically turned off in CORE. In other words, projects with status other than active are not considered for billing even if they have the 'Always show in Invoice Batch' rule applied.
This rule ensures that expense entries get automatically approved for the project. This option auto approves the entries when they are entered. You can set this option at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
This rule ensures that time entries get automatically approved for the project. This option auto approves the entries when they are entered. You can set this option at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
CORE emails all the invoices of the project automatically when they are processed without any extra step or prompt. So if you make any errors in billing, you cannot revise the invoices.
CORE allows you to link the expense entry-related PDF attachments automatically to the processed invoices of the project. It considers only the expense entries that are associated with the invoices. You can set this rule at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
CORE allows you to link the time entry-related PDF attachments automatically to the processed invoices of the project. It considers only the time entries that are associated with the invoices. You can set this rule at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
Allows you to ignore project assignments. If you have activity items, expense items, or team members assigned to the project, CORE disregards them as if the project has no assignments.
Exempts activity and expense item taxes (Tax 1/2/3) at the project level when entering time or expenses. However, if you manually enter these taxes in Time Entries or Expense Entries, this rule is then ignored. If this tax exemption option is selected at the client level, then all the projects of that client are tax exempted irrespective of the rule set here. Therefore, we recommend making specific tax exemptions at the project-level instead of the client-level.
Allows WIP revenue to be generated selectively at the phase level. It is available only when Revenue Recognition is enabled and the project uses the Billed + WIP method. By default, the rule is turned off, giving you control to enable WIP revenue recognition only where needed, such as tracking billable hours or expenses against overhead phases.
By default, CORE includes the expense entries with $0 amounts on the detailed invoices as ‘No Charge’ items. You can check this option to prevent such (non-billable) entries from displaying on invoices. In that case, those units are deducted from the total units invoiced. You can set this rule at the global level for all invoices in the Settings screen.
By default, CORE includes the time entries with $0 amounts on the detailed invoices as ‘No Charge’ items. You can check this option to prevent such (non-billable) entries from displaying on invoices. In that case, those hours are deducted from the total hours invoiced. You can set this rule at the global level for all invoices in the Settings screen.
Includes billable expenses as part of the contract amount. Otherwise, billable expenses are not part of the contract and are added on top of the contract amount. Thus, total amount spent is equal to the value of both billable and non-billable services and expenses, excluding WUD, markups, and extra time and expenses.
Spent = (Client Hours x Bill Rate) x (1 +Taxes/100) + [Units x Cost Rate]
In case of an expense entry, when it exceeds the contract amount and this rule is checked, the entry becomes billable and the Extra flag is checked. You can set this rule at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
CORE adds the attachments of the vendor bills automatically to their linked time and expense entries, which can then be transferred to the related invoices.
MET excludes item taxes (Tax 1/2/3) associated with the expense items while computing the total tax amount to be charged on invoices. You can set this rule at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
MST excludes item taxes (Tax 1/2/3) associated with the activity items while computing the total tax amount to be charged on invoices. You can set this rule at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
You can check this rule if you want all employees to enter memos for their expense entries on the project. This is usually required in government contracts. You can set this rule at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
You can check this rule if you want all employees to enter memos for their time entries on the project. This is usually required in government contracts. You can set this rule at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
CORE evaluates the expense entries wherein when expense units entered exceed the allocated units, you are prevented from entering more expenses. CORE prevents all non-billable expense entries after the project has exceeded the allocated units. This evaluation is done only within the date range specified in the Allocation & Forecasting screen and for fixed-type projects.
Locks out additional time/expense entries for a project. You can activate these rules if there is a temporary issue or dispute with a client about the project, such as lack of payments. You can apply them to any project regardless of its contract type. Although new entries cannot be added, you can update existing entries.
Locks out additional time and expense entries after the total amount charged to a project (amount spent) equals or exceeds the contract amount. When checked, an evaluation is performed when time and expense entries are recorded to a project, where the Total Amount Spent [billable and non-billable services + non-billable expenses] is compared with the Contract Amount. When the amount spent exceeds the contract amount, you are prompted accordingly.
Use this rule when a strict contract limit is in place and you must negotiate additional authorization before continuing. This rule applies to fixed-type projects, but does not apply to indirect time and expenses made via vendor bills. Although new entries cannot be added, you can update existing entries.
CORE evaluates the time entries wherein when hours entered exceed the allocated hours, you are prevented from entering more hours. CORE prevents all time entries (billable and non-billable) after the project has exceeded the allocated hours. This evaluation is done only within the date range specified in the Allocation & Forecasting screen and for fixed-type projects.
If a budget is assigned to a project, this rule restricts its time and expense entries to only the employees/expenses/activities that exist in the budget. This restriction applies in the Time Entries and Expense Entries screens when the View By: Project mode is selected.
This option allows you to display an account summary at the bottom of your invoices. It is checked by default at the global level in the Settings screen.
Displays the combined GST (Goods and Services Tax) for both services and expenses on the invoices of the project. This setting is automatically turned on for countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which show combined taxes unlike USA where the taxes are shown separately as MET and MST (Main Expense Tax and Main Service Tax). Turning on this option in Settings automatically sets the rule for all projects.
This rule enables you to display a retainer summary at the bottom of all invoice templates, including standard phased and joint invoice templates. If you do not add this rule for certain phases, the retainer totals exclude those phases from the summary.
If this rule is checked, CORE stops evaluating expense entries of fixed-type projects against the contract amount (expense amount). Otherwise, it compares the Contract Amount and Total Amount Spent [billable and non-billable services + non-billable expenses] of a project. When Amount Spent > Contract Amount, you are prompted and the non-billable entries are converted into billable entries. However, you can continue to log expense entries and manually adjust their billable status.
CORE stops evaluating time entries of fixed-type projects against the contract amount. Otherwise, based on the comparison between the Contract Amount and Total Amount Spent [billable and non-billable services + non-billable expenses] of a project, it determines if an entry is billable or not. When Amount Spent > Contract Amount, you are prompted and the time entry's bill status is automatically adjusted as the project is over budget. You can continue to log non-billable time entries or manually change their status to billable. You can set this option at the global level for all projects in the Settings screen.
When a fee schedule is not assigned to projects and no matching combination is found, CORE uses the bill rates from activity items. However, if the activity item has a zero dollar value, then it fetches the employee's default bill rates.
Here is how CORE determines which rates to use if this rule is enabled:
CORE uses the bill and cost rates from the fee schedule. If no rates are available in the fee schedule, CORE then checks the activity items. If rates are still not found, CORE defaults to using rates from the resource.
If this rule is checked, project phase start and end dates are automatically applied to new budget items and updated for existing ones whenever the phase dates change. If a phase does not have an end date, the start date of budget items is set to match the phase start date, and no end date is assigned. Additionally, when this rule is checked the Start and End Date fields are hidden on the budget items to prevent unintended changes.
When checked, the project memo is carried forward to the invoice memos and displayed on the invoices. You can control whether this memo is carried to First Memo or Second Memo of the invoices screen by using that option in Settings (Show project memo on invoices at the bottom).
Allows CORE to retrieve rates by job classification as set up in the fee schedule when entering time. However, you can override that in the Time Entries screen. The new rates are retrieved in this order: 1. Employee + Activity + Classification match 2. Employee + Classification match 3. Classification match 4. No change
Add: Add to...
Allows you to apply current assignments to the selected project or to the project and all its phases (if parent project is selected). This is helpful in easily adding or removing assignments to phases when doing so for the parent project as you do not have to repeat these steps for each individual phase. If this Add to Project and Phases option is not used, then assignments added or removed only apply to the currently selected project.
Note: This option is to be used independently for each type of assignment (say rules, contacts, activities, etc.); in other words, if used for one assignment type, it is not applied for all the other types.
Apply changes to all phases
This option allows you to apply any assignment changes (deletions or edits) of the parent project to all phases automatically. This is helpful in easily adding or removing assignments to phases when doing so for the parent project as you do not have to repeat these steps for each individual phase. For example, if we update the billable flag of an activity, it also updates for the phases, and deleting an assignment deletes it from the phases that have it.
Classification
Job title or classification of a team member or employee. It allows you to set up a different title other than the default one. This gets reflected in the time entries, invoices, and reports of a project. Example: Allen Marcello is the Senior Engineer as per the Employees screen; however, you can classify him as the General Manager for a specific project.
Type
Type of team member assigned to a project, such as employee or vendor. It can be a group or an individual.
Assign Rules to Projects
Rules control how projects behave or get billed in CORE. Some of the rules are set up at the global level and pass on to all the projects. You can override those rules at the project level. In case of phased projects, you should set the rules at the parent project level so that they are pushed to all the phases too. You can then edit those rules at the phase level, if needed.
To set rules for a project, watch this video or follow these steps:
Open the Projects screen from the side menu > Projects.
In the list view, click on a project row and select View Details.
In the Project Center view, go to the Settings > Assignment tab and select Show: Rules from the drop-down.
Click Add Rule.
On the Add Rule dialog, select all the rules you want to apply to the project. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
After selecting the rules in the grid, click Add and select the relevant option. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
Add to Project
Add to Project and Phases
You have successfully added the relevant rules to the selected project.
Assign Contacts to Projects
Project contacts can be the contacts of the clients, employees or vendors associated with a project. When adding a contact, you are presented with a list of people not yet assigned to the project.
To add a contact to a project, watch this video or follow these steps:
Open the Projects screen from the side menu > Projects.
In the list view, click on a project row and select View Details.
In the Project Center view, go to the Settings > Assignment tab andselect Show: Contacts from the drop-down.
Click Add Contact.
On the Add Contact dialog, select the relevant contacts for the project.
After selecting the contacts, click Add and select the relevant option. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
Add to Project
Add to Project and Phases
You have successfully added the relevant contacts to the selected project.
Assign Team Members to Projects
Team members of a project can be the employees and vendors who can log their time and expenses against it. When adding a team member, you are presented with a list of people not yet assigned to the project. You can copy the assignments from associated budgets also.
To assign a team member to a project, watch this video or follow these steps:
Open the Projects screen from the side menu > Projects.
In the list view, click on a project row and select View Details.
In the Project Center view, go to the Settings > Assignment tab andselect Show: Team Members from the drop-down.
Note: Parent projects with the Main status appear grayed out in the drop-down list.
Click Add Team Member.
On the Add Team Member dialog, select the relevant information:
Type: Individuals or Groups
Employee or Vendor
Select the team members on the grid and click Add to select the relevant option. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
Add to Project
Add to Project and Phases
You can enter a classification for each member on the grid. After selecting the team member, click Add and select the relevant option. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
Add to Project
Add to Project and Phases
Note: You can also use the Copy from Budget option from the More menu to copy the assignments from the associated budget, if any. You are prompted to replace the existing assignments when copying.
You have successfully added the relevant team members or employees to the selected project. Now only these assigned team members will appear in the drop-down lists of the time and expense entry screens and can log time against the project.
Assign Activities to Projects
When adding an activity, you are presented with a list of activities not yet assigned to the project. You can copy the assignments from associated budgets also.
To assign an activity item to a project, watch this video or follow these steps:
Open the Projects screen from the side menu > Projects.
In the list view, click on a project row and select View Details.
In the Project Center view, go to the Settings > Assignment tab andselect Show: Activity Items from the drop-down.
Note: Parent projects with the Main status appear grayed out in the drop-down list.
Click Add Activity Item.
On the Add Activity Item dialog, select the relevant information: Show: Individuals or Groups.
Select the activities on the grid and click Add to select the relevant option. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
Add to Project
Add to Project and Project Phases
You can change the Billable status for each activity item on the grid, if needed. Click Done.
Note: You can also use the Copy from Budget option from the More menu to copy the assignments from the associated budget, if any. You are prompted to replace the existing assignments when copying.
You have successfully added the relevant activities to the selected project. Now only these assigned items will appear in the drop-down lists of the time entry screens for the project.
Assign Expenses to Projects
When adding an expense, you are presented with a list of expenses not yet assigned to the project. You can copy the assignments from associated budgets also.
To assign an expense item to a project, watch this video or follow these steps:
Open the Projects screen from the side menu > Projects.
In the list view, click on a project row and select View Details.
In theProject Center view, go to the Settings> Assignment tab andselect Show: Expense Items from the drop-down.
Note: Parent projects with the Main status appear grayed out in the drop-down list.
Click Add Expense Item.
On the Add Expense Item dialog, select the relevant information:
Show: Individuals or Groups
Select the expense items on the grid and click Add to select the relevant option. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
Add to Project
Add to Project and Project Phases
You can change the Billable status for each item on the grid, if needed. Click Done.
Note: You can also use the Copy from Budget option from the More menu to copy the assignments from the associated budget, if any. You are prompted to replace the existing assignments when copying.
You have successfully added the relevant expenses to the selected project. Now only these assigned items will appear in the drop-down list of the Expense Entries screen for the project.
on a project row and select View Details.