Project field reference

The fields on a project and what each one controls.

This page describes the fields on the New Project form, including their validation rules and where each one is used across Consult.

Project details

Name: The name of the project. It appears across the app in lists, dashboards, reports, plan pages, and the organogram, and is used when searching for and sorting projects.
Description: A short, internal description of the project that provides context in reports and overviews.
Project Code: An internal short code that identifies the project. It appears in project lists and exports and can be used for cross-system mapping.
Priority: The importance of the project, set to High, Medium, or Low. It is used in filters, sorting, and dashboards to indicate urgency.
Win Probability: The confidence level in winning the engagement, set to Low, High, or Certain. It supports pipeline forecasting and prioritisation in the early stages.
Project Type: The billing nature of the project, set to Billable, Non-Billable, or Firm Contribution. Only billable projects can have rates assigned to resources; non-billable projects automatically set project resource rates to 0.
Currency: The billing and expenses currency for the project. It applies to invoices and expense claims and determines the symbol and tax acronym shown in financial views.
Estimated Value: A best-guess total value for the project. It is used in pipeline and financial projections and high-level project metrics, and can appear on dashboards and reports subject to role permissions.

Dates and location

Start Date: The planned start date for the project, which drives schedule creation and planning windows.
End Date: The planned end date for the project, which defines the end of the scheduling window and planning horizon.
Country: The primary country where the project operates, which sets the regional context and reporting.
Offerings: One or more offerings that describe the nature of the work. They control which designations, or rate cards, are selectable during organogram setup.

Client and invoicing

Select Client: The client organisation for the project. Leave it blank for internal projects. When a client is selected, the invoicing fields Invoice Day of Month, Invoice Frequency, and Payment Terms become required and enabled. It is also used in client-centric views and reports.
Proposal Submission Deadline: The date by which the proposal must be submitted, which supports proposal management and timeline visibility.
Proposal Expiry Date: The date after which it is reasonable to assume the proposal was not won, which supports pipeline tracking and expected decision timelines.
Invoice Day of Month: The day of the month an invoice is expected to be sent. It drives the invoicing cadence and reminders and is disabled when no client is selected.
Invoice Frequency: The invoicing cadence, set to Every month, Once in 2 months, or Once in 3 months. It is used by the invoicing scheduling logic and is disabled when no client is selected.
Payment Terms: When payment is due after an invoice, set to Same as Client, 14 Days, 30 Days, 60 Days, or On Invoice. It is used to compute due dates and ageing for invoices and is disabled when no client is selected.

Xero billing

These fields are only shown when your organisation has connected Xero. On the New Project form they sit with the invoicing fields, and on the project overview they have their own Xero Billing section, edited with the pencil icon.

Project invoices will be exported to Xero: Marks the project as one whose invoices go to Xero. The Xero settings on the project’s invoices, including the Xero contact, are only offered when this is ticked.
Organisation: The Xero organisation the project’s invoices are exported to.
Branding Theme: The Xero branding theme applied to the invoices, or Default Xero branding.
Tracking Category and Tracking Option: The Xero tracking applied to the invoice lines. A tracking option needs a tracking category.

None of the fields is required. The branding theme and tracking options are loaded from the chosen Xero organisation.

They act as defaults for each new invoice on the project, which can still be changed on the invoice itself. Where the project has no default set, a new invoice takes its Xero settings from the project’s latest invoice instead.

Expense rates

These default rates prefill and standardise expense claims on the project:

Mileage Rate: The default rate per kilometre, excluding tax, for mileage expense claims.
Accommodation Rate: The default rate per night, excluding tax, for accommodation expense claims.
Subsistence Rate: The default rate per day, excluding tax, for subsistence expense claims.

Custom fields

Your organisation can add its own fields to projects under Admin Settings > Custom Fields, as described in custom fields. They appear at the bottom of the New Project form and on the project overview, under Custom Fields, and those marked with * must be completed.

A project custom field can be text, a date, a whole number, a decimal, or a checkbox. Each one is also added as a column to the projects export, under Manage > Projects > Export > Export Projects.