# Set up project phases and tasks

> Give a project the phases and tasks your team logs time against, with billing, rates and hour budgets per phase.

Source: https://docs.moodiri.com/time-tracking/set-up-project-phases-and-tasks

## Why use it

When everyone logs to "the project" in general, you cannot tell how long design
development took compared with sourcing or site work. Phases and tasks give your team
the same vocabulary to log against, so reports show where the hours went and phase
billing rules apply on their own.

## When to use it

- **At project kickoff,** to set up the phases you bill by.
- **Fixed-fee phases,** to track hours against a fee without billing them hourly.
- **Non-billable phases,** such as internal reviews, so that time is never invoiced.

## Before you start

- You need to be the owner or an admin with the **Time tracking** permission.
- The project must already exist in Moodiri. See [Create a project](https://docs.moodiri.com/projects/create-a-project).

## Steps

![Time settings tab with team members' capacity and rates, and Lombard Street Loft expanded to show its team access and a new Construction Documents phase being added.](https://docs.moodiri.com/shots/time-tracking--set-up-project-phases-and-tasks--page-1600.webp)
Same screen with numbered callouts: https://docs.moodiri.com/shots/time-tracking--set-up-project-phases-and-tasks--page-annotated.webp
Callout 1: Add phase
1. Open **Time**, choose **Settings**, and type in **Search projects** to find the project, here Lombard Street Loft.
2. Choose the project's details button to open its **Access**, **Phases** and **Tasks**.
3. Under **Access**, choose **Assign a team member**, pick a **Role**, and choose **Assign**.
4. Under **Phases**, type a **New phase name**, such as *Construction Documents*.
5. Choose **Phase options** to set the **Code**, **Billing mode**, **Availability**, **Billable rate** and **Budget (hours)**.
6. Choose **Add phase**. It appears in the project's phase list, ready for time.
7. Under **Tasks**, type a **New task name**, such as *Review floor plan*, and pick its **Phase**.
8. Choose **Add task**. People can now pick it when they log time to that phase.

## Edit phases and tasks

Choose **Edit** next to a phase to change its **Phase name**, **Code**, **Billing
mode**, **Billable rate**, **Budget (hours)** or **Availability**, then choose **Save
phase**. For a task, choose **Edit** to change its **Task name**, **Phase**, **Status**
(**To do**, **In progress** or **Done**) and **Assignee**, then **Save task**. Choose
**Mark done** or **Reopen** to change a task's status in one click.

## What happens next

- New phases and tasks appear in **Log time** and **Start timer** for everyone assigned to the project.
- Phase billing decides whether time logged to it can be invoiced.

## Limits

- A phase needs a name and a code.
- A phase billable rate must be empty or between 0 and 10,000,000.
- A phase budget must be empty or a positive number of hours.

## Questions

### Can I delete a phase?

Phases are deactivated, not deleted. Choose **Deactivate** to retire one, and **Activate** to bring it back.

### Can I leave the rate empty?

Yes. An empty **Billable rate** uses the firm default rate.