In DuoApp, a project represents one job or site. Everything you do — billing, approvals, file storage, hours — is attached to a project, which is exactly why a single source of truth becomes possible. Get the set-up right and you stop re-keying the same numbers across separate files.

Creating a project

From Projects, choose New project and give it the essentials:

  • Name and reference — what you and your client call the job.
  • Client — who you're billing. This pulls through to applications and invoices automatically.
  • Contract value — the agreed value, so progress and applications can be tracked against it.
  • Start date and programme dates — the timeline the work runs to.

Choosing how you'll bill it

Before work starts, decide how the job is priced, because it shapes how you invoice. DuoApp supports the three ways contractors actually bill — a priced schedule of works, specific works, and sub works — covered in priced, specific and sub works. Setting this up front means your applications and invoices generate from the project itself rather than a separate spreadsheet.

Structuring the work

Break the job into the tasks and stages that make sense for it. You don't need to plan every nail — you need enough structure that you can assign responsibility and see progress. Most contractors organise around phases or trades, then add tasks under each. The detail of this is in managing tasks, owners and milestones.

// A well-structured project has

The four things worth setting up first

  • A clear contract value to measure against
  • A billing method chosen before work starts
  • Tasks or stages with an owner each
  • A home for the job's drawings, RAMS and certificates

Documents and compliance from the start

Attach the job's drawings, RAMS, contracts and certificates to the project as it kicks off, rather than scattering them across email and shared drives. Held against the project, they're visible to the right people on site and the office, and feed into compliance and expiry alerts so nothing lapses mid-job.

Keeping it live

A project isn't a set-and-forget record — it's the live picture of the job. As work progresses, tasks get ticked off, applications go out, timesheets accrue and documents are added. Because it's all on one project, your analytics can show how the job is really doing without anyone stitching files together.

// Related help

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