Overview
Your company invests time and money in winning work, from client meetings and site visits to proposal preparation. A Pursuit Project is a CORE project linked to an opportunity before it is won. It lets you track the time and expenses your team spends pursuing the opportunity, helping you understand the cost of winning each opportunity.
A Pursuit Project is a regular CORE project that appears in your Projects list and reports like any other project. CORE assigns it the Marketing contract type, making time and expenses non-billable by default. The opportunity’s Overview tab displays accumulated pursuit time and expenses by approval status.
You can create a Pursuit Project from the opportunity’s Overview tab or configure CORE to prompt you to create one when the opportunity reaches a specified stage. If your company already tracks pursuit activities in an existing project, you can link that project as the Pursuit Project instead.
When you win the opportunity and create a project to perform the work (the Execution Project), you can choose how to handle the Pursuit Project. You can fold it into the Execution Project as a phase, allowing pursuit costs to contribute to the project’s overall profitability, or keep it standalone. Both projects remain linked to the opportunity and are accessible from Shortcuts or the Settings > Related tab.
How To
Create Pursuit Projects from Opportunity Stages
Link Existing Projects as Pursuit Projects
Create Execution Projects and Fold In Pursuit Projects
Field Descriptions
| Field Name | Field Description |
| Opportunities > Overview | |
| No Pursuit Project linked | Displays on the Pursuit Project widget when the opportunity has no Pursuit Project. You can click + Create Pursuit Project to create one. After you create or link a Pursuit Project, the Pursuit Time and Pursuit Expenses widgets replace this widget. |
| Pursuit Time |
Displays a color-coded chart of the time entries on the Pursuit Project, grouped by status: Awaiting Submission, Awaiting Approval, and Approved. The center of the chart shows the total. Click the clock icon or the $ icon below the chart to switch between hours and dollars. Entries stay in the totals after they are billed. The widget counts only entries on the linked Pursuit Project. You can click + to add a time entry. The Daily Time Card opens with the Pursuit Project already selected. When there are no time entries yet, the widget shows the message There is no pursuit time in this opportunity yet, and a + Add Time Entry button. |
| Pursuit Expenses |
Displays a color-coded chart of the expense entries on the Pursuit Project in dollars, grouped by status: Awaiting Submission, Awaiting Approval, and Approved. The center of the chart shows the total. Entries stay in the totals after they are billed. The widget counts only entries on the linked Pursuit Project. You can click the more icon (...) and select + Add Expense Entry to add an expense entry, or T&E Reviewer to review entries. When there are no expense entries yet, the widget shows the message There are no pursuit expenses in this opportunity yet and a + Add Expense Entry button. |
| Opportunities > Overview > Create Pursuit Project | |
| Project ID | CORE fills in the next Pursuit Project ID, in the format year followed by a four-digit number, for example, 2026-0001. Pursuit Projects have their own numbering, separate from the Auto increment Project ID setting your firm uses for other projects. You can change the ID, as long as it is unique. |
| Project Name | Defaults to the opportunity name followed by Pursuit Project, for example, Riverside Library - Pursuit Project. You can change it if required. |
| Manager | Employee who manages the Pursuit Project. This field is required. |
| Fee Schedule | Fee schedule for the Pursuit Project. This field displays only when CORE opens the dialog from a stage workflow action, and it is required there. |
| Project Hierarchy |
Choose where the Pursuit Project sits in your project list:
|
| Parent Project | This field is displayed only when you select Under Existing Project. Use it to select the existing project under which you want to place the Pursuit Project. CORE supports project hierarchies of up to four levels, allowing you to organize the Pursuit Project within a structured, multi-level project framework. |
| Opportunities > Settings > Related | |
| Pursuit Project | Displays the Pursuit Project linked to the opportunity. You can click the project name to open it in a new browser tab. You can click the Unlink icon (x) to remove the link. You can select Choose Project to link an existing project. |
| Execution Project | Displays the Execution Project linked to the opportunity, which is the project created for the work when the opportunity is won. You can click the project name to open it in a new browser tab. You can click the Unlink icon (x) to remove the link. You can click Choose Project to link an existing project. |
| Opportunities > Mark as Won > New Project | |
| Pursuit Project Hierarchy |
Choose how the opportunity’s Pursuit Project should be handled when CORE creates the Execution Project. This setting determines whether the work and costs associated with pursuing the opportunity become part of the new project or remain separate. Fold in: The Pursuit Project is incorporated into the new Execution Project as one of its phases. This means that the costs incurred while winning the work are included in the project’s overall financial results and are considered when calculating its profitability. The Pursuit Project remains connected to the opportunity as its Pursuit Project, even after it has been incorporated into the Execution Project. This option is selected by default. Keep standalone: The Pursuit Project remains separate from the new Execution Project and stays in its existing location. Its activities and costs are not incorporated into the Execution Project’s phases or profitability calculations. |
| Opportunities > Shortcuts | |
| Client | Opens the client associated with the opportunity, allowing you to view the client’s details and related information. |
| Pursuit Project | Opens the Pursuit Project. It displays only when the opportunity has a Pursuit Project. |
| Execution Project | Opens the Execution Project. It displays only when the opportunity has an Execution Project. |
| Projects > Project Center > Shortcuts | |
| Opportunity | Opens the opportunity associated with the project, allowing you to review its details, access relevant information, and manage the opportunity as needed. |
Create Pursuit Projects
You can create a Pursuit Project from the Overview tab of any saved opportunity. CORE fills in the details for you, and you stay on the opportunity.
CORE creates the Pursuit Project with the Marketing contract type, an Active status, a contract amount of zero, the client from the opportunity, and a start date of today. It is created as a Standard project, so your team can enter time and expenses on it even when you place it under an existing project.
To create a Pursuit Project, follow these steps:
- Open the Opportunities screen from the side menu > Pursuit.
- In the list view, click an opportunity to open it. The Overview tab displays.
- On the Pursuit Project widget, click + Create Pursuit Project.
- On the Create Pursuit Project dialog, review the details CORE fills in and change them as needed. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Click Save.
CORE creates the Pursuit Project, links it to the opportunity, and shows a success message. The Pursuit Time and Pursuit Expenses widgets now display on the Overview tab, and the project displays on the Settings > Related tab.
Note: If you lose the opportunity, the Pursuit Project and its time and expense entries stay in CORE.
Create Pursuit Projects from Opportunity Stages
You can have CORE prompt you to create a Pursuit Project when an opportunity moves into a stage you choose. The prompt appears whether you change the stage on the opportunity, in the Snapshot panel, or by dragging a card in the card view. CORE does not prompt you if the opportunity already has a Pursuit Project.
To set up the prompt and create a Pursuit Project from it, follow these steps:
- Open the Opportunity Stages screen from the side menu > Settings > Pursuit.
- In the Workflow Action column, select Pursuit Project for the stage you want. Your changes save automatically.
- Open an opportunity that has no Pursuit Project and move it into that stage. For example, on the opportunity, click Stage at the top right and select the stage.
- The Create Pursuit Project dialog opens with the Opportunity stage workflow automation message at the top. Review the details. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Click Save. CORE moves the opportunity to the new stage and creates the Pursuit Project.
If you click Cancel, the opportunity still moves to the new stage, but CORE does not create a Pursuit Project. You can create one later from the Overview tab. Moving an opportunity to an earlier stage does not delete its existing Pursuit Project.Check Opportunity Stages for details on stage settings.
Add Pursuit Time and Expenses
Your team records pursuit time and expenses on the Pursuit Project, the same way as on any other project. You can also start a new entry from the opportunity's Overview tab, with the Pursuit Project already selected.
To add pursuit time or expenses from the opportunity, follow these steps:
- Open the Opportunities screen from the side menu > Pursuit.
- In the list view, click an opportunity that has a Pursuit Project. The Overview tab displays.
- To add time, click + on the Pursuit Time widget, or + Add Time Entry if there is no time yet. The Daily Time Card opens on a new time entry with the Pursuit Project already selected. Enter the details and click Create Time Entry.
- To add an expense, click the more icon (...) on the Pursuit Expenses widget and select + Add Expense Entry, or click + Add Expense Entry if there are no expenses yet. The Expense Entries screen opens with a new entry. Select the Pursuit Project, enter the details, and save the entry.
The widgets update with the new entries by approval status.
Link Existing Projects as Pursuit Projects
If your firm already tracks a pursuit on its own project, such as a Marketing project, you can link that project to the opportunity as its Pursuit Project. Its time and expenses then display on the opportunity's Overview tab. A project that is already linked to another opportunity, as its Pursuit Project or its Execution Project, is not available to link.
To link an existing project as the Pursuit Project, follow these steps:
- Open the Opportunities screen from the side menu > Pursuit.
- In the list view, click the opportunity to open it.
- Click the Settings tab, then click Related.
- Click Choose Project, search for the project, and select it. CORE links the project right away. You can also click + Create New to create a new project.
Note: Keep one Pursuit Project for each opportunity, and do not link the opportunity's Execution Project as its Pursuit Project. A project should be either the Pursuit Project or the Execution Project, not both. If you have the opportunity open in more than one browser tab, refresh the page before you create or link a Pursuit Project.
Unlink Pursuit Projects
You can remove the link between an opportunity and its Pursuit Project. Unlinking never deletes the project. The project and its time and expense entries stay in CORE, and you can link the project again later.
To unlink a Pursuit Project, follow these steps:
- Open the Opportunities screen from the side menu > Pursuit.
- In the list view, click the opportunity to open it.
- Click the Settings tab, then click Related.
- Click the Unlink icon (x) next to the project name.
- On the Unlink Pursuit Project dialog, click Unlink.
CORE removes the link right away. The Overview tab shows the No Pursuit Project linked message again. You can unlink the Execution Project from the same tab in the same way.
Create Execution Projects and Fold In Pursuit Projects
When you win an opportunity, you can create the project for the work, which is the Execution Project. If the opportunity has a Pursuit Project, you choose whether to fold it into the Execution Project as a phase or keep it standalone. To have CORE prompt you to create the Execution Project when an opportunity reaches a stage, set that stage's Workflow Action to Execution Project under Settings > Pursuit > Opportunity Stages.
To create the Execution Project, follow these steps:
- Open the Opportunities screen from the side menu > Pursuit.
- In the list view, click the opportunity to open it.
- Click Stage at the top right and select a Won stage, or a stage whose Workflow Action is Execution Project.
- On the Mark as Won dialog, enter the required information, select the Create New Project check box, and click Mark As Won.
- On the New Project dialog, enter the project details.
- Under Pursuit Project Hierarchy, select Fold in or Keep standalone. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Click Create Project.
CORE creates the Execution Project and links it to the opportunity. With Fold in, the Pursuit Project now displays as a phase of the Execution Project.
Note: CORE supports up to four levels in a project hierarchy. Folding a Pursuit Project into an Execution Project adds a level to the Pursuit Project and its phases. If this would exceed the four-level limit, CORE prevents you from folding it in. Select Keep standalone instead.