Projects & Costing
Projects are job-level containers that group related task lists together. Once task lists are linked to a project, Ziptask automatically rolls up effort point progress, completion status, and — for account owners — estimated dollar costs across all of them.
Note on points: Projects use the Estimated Effort Points field on each task item — not Reward Points. Effort points represent the work weight of a task and drive cost estimates. Reward Points are the gamification currency used for the leaderboard and store, and are completely independent of project costing. Both fields are set separately on each task item by an Admin or Root.
Feature flag: projects_enabled — Business tier only. Root can toggle it in Account Settings → Projects & Costing.
Permissions
| Action | User | Admin / Team Admin | Root |
|---|---|---|---|
| View projects list and detail | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Create / edit / delete projects | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Archive / unarchive a project | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Assign a project manager | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Be assigned as project manager | ✗ | ✓ (account-scoped only) | ✓ |
| Assign a task list to a project | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View point totals and progress | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View dollar costs and expenses | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Add / edit / delete expenses | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Configure rollup tags | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View Project Summary report | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View Project Costing report | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Standard Users never see the Projects section. Cost and expense visibility is controlled by the Project Costing permission, which only Root holds by default. An account can grant it to Admin or a custom role: read shows the cost figures and the expenses list; manage additionally allows adding, editing, and deleting expenses. Configuring which tags roll up is part of normal project editing (Admin/Root), not the costing permission.
How it works
Creating a project
Root and Admin can tap New Project from the Projects page. Fields:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Yes | Must be unique within the account (max 150 characters). |
| Description | No | Free-text context shown on the detail page. |
| Project Manager | No | A member who can both edit projects and manage any task list on the account — in practice, Admin or Root. They can edit the project and manage any list under it. They receive an in-app and push notification when assigned. Selecting “Unassigned” leaves the field blank. |
| $ per Point | No | Dollar value of one earned point (e.g. 5 = $5 per point). Used for cost estimates. Leave at 0 to skip cost tracking. |
| Start Date | No | Project start date — displayed in the sidebar. |
| End Date | No | Project end date — displayed in the sidebar. |
Project titles must be unique within an account. Attempting to save a duplicate title shows an error telling you that name is already in use.
Editing a project
Any Admin or Root can edit a project’s title, description, project manager, rate, or dates at any time. If a new project manager is assigned who is different from the previous one, they receive an in-app and push notification. If the project manager is cleared, the previously assigned person receives a removal notification. Neither notification fires if the person making the change is the same as the person being assigned or removed.
Deleting a project
Deleting a project does not delete its task lists. All linked task lists are unlinked and remain fully intact with all their items and history.
A confirmation dialog shows the project title before the delete is committed.
Linking task lists to a project
When creating or editing a task list, a Project picker appears below the Team picker — but only when projects_enabled is on and at least one active project exists on the account.
- A task list can belong to one project at a time.
- Selecting a project links the list; selecting “No Project” unlinks it.
- Unlinking a task list does not affect any items or points on that list.
- Only active (non-archived) projects appear in the picker. Archived projects cannot be assigned to new or existing lists until they are unarchived.
Projects list page
The projects list shows a card for each project. Each card displays:
- Project title and description
- Date range (start – end dates)
- Progress bar (earned points ÷ estimated points)
- Point counts: X / Y pts
- Number of linked task lists
- A Behind badge if any linked list is past its due date with incomplete items
Cards are sorted alphabetically. The search field filters by title.
The Mine / All toggle scopes the list to projects the member manages or all projects they can see. The Filters button (funnel icon) opens a panel with a Status control — Active or Archived — and shows a count badge when a non-default filter is applied.
Layout options (desktop). A view switcher in the toolbar lets each member show projects as Cards (the default grid), Rows (the same card, full width), or a dense Table. The Table view adds a Compact / Comfortable density toggle. The choice is remembered per person and per device — two people sharing a browser keep their own preference — and the search term, scope, and Status selection now persist when opening a project and coming back. On phones the list always shows stacked cards regardless of the saved choice.
Project detail page
Clicking a project opens its detail page, which has a sidebar and a main content area.
Sidebar
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Progress | Progress bar, earned/estimated point fraction, completion percentage, and a breakdown of Estimated / Earned / Remaining point totals. |
| Schedule | Start date, end date, and number of linked task lists (only shown when at least one date is set). |
| Project Manager | The assigned member’s name with a person icon (only shown when a manager is assigned). |
| Cost | (Project Costing permission — Root by default) The $/pt rate; Estimated / Earned / Remaining Cost; plus Expenses and a Total (labor estimate + expenses) in dollars. |
| Actions | Edit, Archive (or Unarchive if the project is archived), and Delete buttons. |
Main content
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Unscored warning | A warning banner listing how many lists have items with an Estimated Effort Points value of 0. This means cost and progress estimates may be incomplete for those lists. |
| Points by Tag | A table grouping estimated and earned points by tag across all linked lists. Root users see an additional Cost column. Which tags appear here is configurable per project (see Rollup tags below). |
| Expenses | (Project Costing permission) A list of money spent on the project — materials, equipment, subcontractors, etc. — each with a category, amount, date, and optional receipt. The total feeds the sidebar cost column. See Expenses below. |
| Task Lists | Every task list linked to this project. Each row shows the list title, a mini progress bar, completed/total item count, point totals (if scored), and a Behind badge when applicable. Clicking a row navigates to that task list. |
”Behind” badge logic
A task list is marked Behind when all three conditions are true:
- The list has a due date set.
- That due date is in the past.
- At least one item on the list is not yet completed.
The badge appears both on the Projects list page (as a count on the project card) and on individual list rows inside the project detail page.
Cost tracking (Root only)
If the $ per Point rate is set on a project, the account owner (Root) see a cost section on the project detail sidebar and in the Project Costing report:
| Value | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Estimated Cost | Estimated Effort Points × $/pt rate |
| Earned Cost | Effort Points on completed items × rate |
| Remaining Cost | Estimated Cost − Earned Cost |
| Expenses | Sum of all expenses recorded on the project |
| Total | Estimated Cost + Expenses |
The first three lines are the labor estimate (from effort points). Expenses is real money spent, and Total combines the two. Costs update live as items are completed, effort point values change, or expenses are added. By default only Root sees these figures; the Project Costing permission can be granted to others.
Reward Points do not affect cost calculations. A task item’s Reward Points value may differ from its Estimated Effort Points — this is intentional. For example, a quick but high-value task might carry 50 Reward Points and only 2 Effort Points.
Points by tag
The detail page includes a breakdown table grouping estimated and earned points by tag across all linked task lists. This is useful for understanding which categories of work are driving estimated effort.
Tags are pulled from the account’s tag library. Only tags that appear on at least one list within the project are shown.
Rollup tags
By default every tag on any linked list appears in the breakdown, which can clutter it with tags that aren’t relevant (e.g. an “Urgent” tag showing next to phase tags) and can double-count a list that carries two tags. To control this, pick a rollup whitelist per project — only the chosen tags appear in the breakdown:
- On the Create/Edit project form, use the Rollup tags picker.
- On the project detail page, tap Configure on the Points by Tag card to change it inline.
- Leaving the selection empty rolls up all tags (the original behavior), so existing projects are unaffected.
Configuring rollup tags only changes what the breakdown displays — it never changes the project’s total points or costs, which are always summed from every linked list.
Expenses
Beyond the effort-based labor estimate, you can record actual expenses on a project — materials, equipment, subcontractors, and so on — so the cost column reflects real money spent, not just estimated labor.
The Expenses section sits between the Points by Tag card and the task lists on the project detail page. Each expense has:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Description | What the expense was for (required). |
| Amount | Dollar amount (required). |
| Category | Materials, Equipment, Subcontractor, or Other. (There’s no “Labor” category — your crew’s labor is already measured by effort points; outside labor you pay for goes under Subcontractor.) |
| Date | When it was incurred (defaults to today). |
| Receipt | An optional photo or PDF of the receipt, attached per expense. |
The sum of all expenses shows as the Expenses line in the cost column, and is added to the labor estimate to give a Total. Expenses also appear in the Project Costing report.
Who can use it: viewing expenses requires the Project Costing permission (read); adding, editing, or deleting them requires the manage level of that permission. Only Root holds it by default — grant it to Admin or a custom role to give others access. Receipts are part of the expense, so they work whether or not the general Attachments feature is enabled.
Notifications
| Event | Who gets notified |
|---|---|
| Assigned as project manager | The newly assigned member (in-app + push) |
| Removed as project manager | The previously assigned member (in-app + push) |
Notifications are not sent when an admin assigns themselves as project manager, or when they remove themselves. Tapping a project manager notification navigates directly to the project detail page.
Archiving projects
Projects can be archived instead of deleted. Archiving removes a project from the active projects list without losing any data — all linked task lists, point history, and cost figures are preserved.
How to archive: From the Projects list page, tap the ⋯ menu on a project card and choose Archive Project. From the project detail page, use the Archive button in the sidebar actions. Both show a confirmation before committing.
Cascade option: The archive confirmation includes an opt-in toggle: Also archive all active lists (N). When enabled, all currently active task lists linked to the project are archived at the same time. This is off by default. Lists that were already archived before the project was archived are not affected.
Viewing archived projects: Open Filters in the Projects page toolbar and choose Archived under Status to switch to the archived view. Archived project cards display a dashed left border, italic title, and muted text to distinguish them from active projects.
Unarchiving: From the archived view, tap ⋯ on a project card and choose Unarchive Project, or use the Unarchive button in the detail page sidebar. A confirmation is shown. The unarchive confirmation also includes an opt-in toggle: Also unarchive all archived lists (N). When enabled, all archived lists linked to the project are restored to active. This is off by default — lists can also be unarchived individually from the task list page.
Point and cost totals: Archiving a task list that belongs to a project does not remove it from the project’s totals. All lists always contribute to point and cost rollups regardless of their archive status. This ensures archived projects retain accurate historical figures.
Reports
Two report types are available when both reporting_enabled and projects_enabled are on:
| Report | Access | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Project Summary | Root, Admin | One row per project: list count, estimated points, earned points, % complete, behind count. |
| Project Costing | Project Costing permission (Root by default) | All Project Summary fields plus: $/pt rate, estimated cost, earned cost, remaining cost, expenses, and total cost. |
Both reports accept a date range filter. A project is included if its active period (Start Date to End Date) overlaps the selected range.
Support notes
- Feature flag is per-account. Disabling
projects_enabledhides the Projects section and the project picker in task list forms. Existing project associations are preserved and restored when the flag is re-enabled. - Deleting a project does not delete task lists. It clears the project link on those lists. The lists and all their items remain intact.
- Title uniqueness is per-account. Two different accounts can have projects with the same name without conflict.
- Project manager field is functional, not just a label. The assigned project manager can edit, archive, and delete the project even if they did not create it. Only members who can both edit projects and manage any task list on the account appear in the project manager picker — typically Admin or Root. A custom role must include both of those abilities to qualify.
- Cost tracking is opt-in. Setting $/pt to 0 skips the labor estimate. Expenses are tracked separately and still contribute to the Expenses and Total lines even when $/pt is 0.
- Expenses need the Project Costing permission. If someone can’t see or add expenses, check their role — viewing needs Project Costing (read), and adding/editing needs the manage level. Only Root has it by default.
- Rollup tags are display-only. Restricting which tags roll up never changes a project’s total points or cost — it only tidies the Points by Tag breakdown. An empty selection rolls up all tags.
- Effort Points ≠ Reward Points. Projects use Estimated Effort Points for cost rollups — not Reward Points. Both fields are set independently on each task item. An item can have any combination of values (e.g., high reward but low effort, or vice versa).
- The unscored warning appears when any linked list has task items with an Estimated Effort Points value of 0. Resolve it by setting effort points on those items — Reward Points have no effect on project cost estimates.
- Points are live. Estimated and earned points on a project update in real time as items are completed, added, or removed. There is no manual recalculation step.
- Reporting requires both flags.
reporting_enabledmust also be on for the Project Summary and Project Costing reports to appear. - If a project is “missing” from the list, it may have been archived. Archived projects only appear when Archived is selected under Filters → Status on the Projects page.
- Archiving a project does not cascade automatically. Lists remain in their current state unless the user explicitly enables the cascade toggle in the archive confirmation. Lists can always be archived or unarchived independently from the task list page.
- Archived lists still count in project totals. Point and cost rollups always include all linked lists regardless of archive status, so historical figures on archived projects remain accurate.
- The project picker only shows active projects. If an Admin reports that a project is not appearing as an option when creating or editing a task list, check whether that project has been archived.