Accurately managing project activities and tasks is essential for effective time tracking, resource allocation, and project reporting. When resources submit time to a project, they must log their hours against specific activities. Ensuring that the correct tasks are available for selection improves data accuracy, enhances project cost tracking, and supports consistent reporting across the organisation. Additionally, each activity can be marked as capitalisable or non-capitalisable, ensuring that time logged against these tasks is correctly classified for financial reporting. This distinction is crucial for organisations that need to separate operational costs from capital expenditures, allowing for more precise budget management and compliance with financial regulations.

Fluid allows administrators to define a standard set of activities that can be used across projects while also providing the flexibility to refine these activities based on project type. Different project types require different activities because the nature of work varies between them. For example, a software development project may have activities like coding, testing, and deployment, whereas a research project may include data collection, analysis, and reporting. By refining activities per project type, organisations ensure that resources log time against relevant work, reducing errors, improving reporting accuracy, and aligning time tracking with financial and operational objectives.

This guide explains how to configure the default task list in Metadata Management and refine task availability using Project Type Configuration.

Configuring the Default Task List via Metadata Management

The default list of tasks acts as the foundation for time tracking across all projects. This list is managed through the Metadata Management settings.

1. Access the Administration Console:

   • Click on your avatar in the top-right corner.

   • Select Administration Console from the dropdown menu.
     
     

2. Navigate to Metadata Management:

   • Within the Administration Console, locate the Data Administration section.

   • Click on Metadata Management.
     
     

3. Configure Activity Types:

   • In the Metadata Management interface, find the Activity Types section.

   • Here, you can add, edit, or delete activity types that will form the default task list for time tracking across all projects.

You can read more about metadata management here.

Refining Task Availability Using Project Type Configuration

Once a default list of tasks has been established, administrators can further refine which tasks are available for different types of projects. This is done using the Project Types configuration page.

1. Access Project Type Configuration:

   • Go to the Administration Console.

   • Navigate to the Project Settings section and select the Project Types link.
     
     

2. Associate Tasks with Project Types:

   • Select a project type to configure.

   • Assign relevant tasks from the default task list to this project type.

   • This ensures that when a resource logs time for a project of this type, only the relevant tasks appear as options.

For further guidance, refer to the article on Project Type configuration for more details on managing project categories effectively.