A task is an individual job carried out on a project. Tasks are cost centers - meaning costs are assigned to individual tasks rather than project.
A project contains a list of tasks. In the most straight-forward case this is a simple list. In this case all tasks are visible to the customer in the final invoice. Such tasks are referred to as customer tasks.
However it is possible that you wish to track costs at a more granular level than what you eventually present to the customer. This can be done by using yard tasks. These are 'child' tasks to customer tasks. They have costs assigned to them but their price is rolled-up to the parent customer task. Note that customer tasks with child yard tasks may still have costs assigned directly to them.
Like projects, tasks have their own lifeline - a sequence of statuses through which they pass:
| Status | Description |
| With Estimator | A special status for emergent work that must go through the full estimating process. |
| Awaiting Authorisation | The normal
start status for a task. At this stage no costs can be assigned but the
task can be exported, planned etc. Tasks imported from an estimate normally start at this status. |
| Authorised | The customer
has agreed to pay for this task. At this point costs can be assigned to
the task but not manhours. Tasks imported from an estimate can start at this status. |
| Started | The task has started and is underway. Costs, including manhours can be assigned to it. |
| Paused | A task was started, but work has been halted. This is an informational status only. The system treats it as a 'Started' task. |
| Completed | Work has finished. New costs cannot be assigned to it. However there maybe a period during which manhours can still be assigned to the task - this is dependent on the manhour entry set-up. |
| Cancelled | The task has been cancelled. Costs so far assigned will be added to the invoice but no new costs can be assigned. |
Yard tasks also offer additional features. They have a type and subtype that allow them to be classified, and a trade. The classifications can be whatever you wish, and allow you to aggregate costs any way you wish.
Task pricing is the subject of a seperate tutorial.