Managing Projects
Overview
Projects in Quicken Business & Personal help you track income and expenses for specific jobs, clients, or initiatives.
By assigning transactions to projects, you can monitor profitability, generate project-specific reports, and better understand which aspects of your business are most successful.
đź’ˇ Optional workflow:
You don’t have to use projects to manage your business in Quicken. Many business owners find categories and tags sufficient. However, if you want a structured way to group transactions and track profitability per client or job, projects are a great fit.
Why Use Projects
Projects help you stay organized by grouping related income and expenses. They’re especially useful for:
Client work – Track billable time, materials, and payments for each engagement.
Product lines – Monitor revenue and expenses for different products or services.
Internal initiatives – Manage costs for marketing campaigns, upgrades, or equipment purchases.
Property management – Track income and expenses for each rental or property.
Unlike categories, which tell you what kind of income or expense it is (for example, Office Supplies or Consulting Income), projects show which job or initiative that transaction supports.
You can then easily invoice clients for project work and view profitability by project.
How Businesses Use Projects
Freelance consultant:
Tracks all billable hours, subcontractor costs, and reimbursements for each client project. When the work is complete, they invoice directly from the project view.
Construction company:
Creates a project for each job site—such as Carmel Cottage Remodel or Ocean View Addition—to monitor materials, labor, and subcontractor costs separately.
Marketing agency:
Manages campaigns like Spring Product Launch or Holiday Promotion as projects to track advertising spend, creative costs, and client billing.
Property manager:
Uses one project per rental property to record maintenance, utilities, and rent income.
Creating and Managing Projects
Create a Project
After you’ve created a client, you can create projects to track related work and expenses.
Hover over the panel on the left and select Clients & Projects.
Locate and select the client you want to create a project for.
Under Projects, select + Project.
Enter the Project Name and confirm the Client.
Optionally, add Project Notes or a Due Date.
Select Create.
Add Items to a Project
Add billable items so you can include them in client invoices.
Hover over the panel on the left and select Clients & Projects.
Locate the client and project you want to update.
Under Ready to Bill, select + Item.
Choose an existing item or select + New Item to create one.
Enter the Item Name, Description, Rate, and Category, and indicate whether it’s Taxable.
Select Create.
đź’ˇ Items and discounts added to invoices affect your income, not your expenses.
Add Expenses to a Project
Link business expenses to a project for better cost tracking and accurate billing.
Hover over the panel on the left and select Clients & Projects.
Locate the client and project you’re working on.
Under Expenses, select + Expense.
Select the transaction(s) to include.
Choose whether the expense is Billable, then select Link.
You can track non-billable expenses as well—they’ll still be visible in your project reports.
Invoice for Project Work
After adding billable items or expenses, create and send an invoice directly from the project.
Hover over the panel on the left and select Clients & Projects.
Locate the client and project.
Under Sales History, select Ready to Bill.
Review and send your invoice.
The invoice will appear in Sales History as an open item.
Edit a Project
Need to update project details? You can easily make changes at any time.
Hover over the panel on the left and select Clients & Projects.
Locate and select the client that has the project you want to edit.
Select the project.
Click Edit in the upper right corner.
Make your changes and select Save.
Mark a Project Complete
When your work is finished, you can mark the project as complete.
Note: You cannot delete projects at this time.
Hover over the panel on the left and select Clients & Projects.
Locate and select the client and project.
Click the three dots at the end of the project and select Mark as Completed.
If there are billable items, you’ll be prompted to create an invoice.
Once invoiced, return to the project menu, select Mark as Completed, and confirm.
If no billable items remain, select Confirm to complete the project.
Why Project Reporting Matters
Filtering client projects in reports gives you real-time insight into:
Profitability tracking: Compare total income and expenses per project.
Cost control: Identify and manage overspending.
Informed decisions: Use project-level data to guide future pricing or resource allocation.
Financial visibility: Generate detailed reports by project or client.
Best Practices for Managing Projects
Start broad: Begin with major projects; add more detail as needed.
Be consistent: Assign projects to all related transactions for accurate reports.
Review regularly: Run project reports monthly or quarterly to stay on top of performance.
Combine with tags: For more detail, use tags for sub-categories (for example, Kitchen Remodels project with tags like Labor or Permits).
Document your structure: Keep notes on how you organize projects for consistency—especially if multiple users enter transactions.
Common Questions
Can I assign a transaction to multiple projects?
No. Each transaction can only be linked to one project. To split costs, divide the transaction and assign each portion to a different project.
What’s the difference between projects and classes?
Both track profitability, but their focus differs.
Use projects for specific jobs or clients.
Use classes for internal groupings, such as departments or locations.
Do I need to use projects?
No. Projects are optional. If your business doesn’t require detailed job or client-level tracking, you can manage your finances using only categories and tags.