How do I manage pro-rated periods in Retainer budget projects?

Question

The first period in my retainer budget project is shorter than all of the other periods. Is it possible to show this?

Answer

Yes.  The following steps outline how to do so assuming a the project's periods follow calendar months, where the project and first period will start mid-month.

Creating the project

First, create the project. 

To create a new project

1. Create New Project.
2. Enter the Project Name, Dates, and Client.
3. Select a Project Color. 
4. Click More Settings.
5. For Budget Type, select Retainer. The window will expand to show the additional retainer budget fields.
6. Billing Period defaults to Monthly, Every* 1 months. Leave both as is.
7. Set the Period Budget Type and enter the corresponding period Target value.
8. The toggle for Pre-Create Periods defaults to No. Also leave this as is.
9. Click Save and Continue.

Create the periods

Once the project is created, create the periods. After following the steps above, the project will open to Retainer Tracking. There will be 1 period existing. Period Start Date will default appear as the current date. 

To update the first partial period

1. In the new project's Retainer Tracking, click on the period's start date to open the calendar.
2. Select the correct period start date.
3. Update period end date to the end of the month matching period start date.
4. Using the three dots at the far right of the period, select Change Period Target.
5. Enter the partial month, pro-rated Period Target value.
6. Click Update.
7. The dates and value for this partial "New Period" should now reflect as you need.

To create the remaining periods

1. After updating the first period, click New Periods at the top right.
2. Enter the remaining number of periods in Periods.
3. New Retainer Dates will reflect the start date of the project through the last day of the last monthly period. 
4. New Total Value will be the entire total of all periods for the retainer, the partial plus all other full month periods.
5. Click Add.
   
   Note: Adjusting the period start/end dates on the initial period to reflect the partial month allows the system to reflect full months from that period's end date  forward when new periods are added to the project.
6. Retainer Tracking now displays all project periods. The partial month appears correctly with the prorated monthly target value while all other periods show the full monthly target value, as expected.
7. Adjust period names from here, as usual.

Invoicing partial periods

Invoicing will reflect the partial period and it's prorated value. In order to invoice, a period must first be locked.

To create the partial period invoice

1. Lock the first, partial period.
2. Handle any rollover as needed.
3. On the period, use the three dots to Create invoice.
4. The invoice will appear per the target value on the partial period.
5. Adjust any fields as needed and Create Invoices when ready.

Financials Overview and Revenue Recognition

Financials Overview and Revenue Recognition will reflect the project's full month periods as well as the partial first month's period, noted by the lower, pro-rated monthly target value.