QuadrAct User Guide

The budget is a table where each row is a task. Rows are grouped by Element (the deliverable) and Phase (the stage of work).

• Header Rows: Non-billable rows used to organise the table (like section dividers). They can subtotal the lines beneath them.
• Task Rows: Billable lines. Each has: Element, Phase, Operation, Task Description, Estimated Weeks, Hours/Week, Number of Persons → system calculates Total Hours. Then: Rate, Materials Cost → system calculates Total Cost, then adds Contingency and Margin to give Sales Price.
• Indent Levels: Rows can be indented under headers to create a hierarchical WBS structure.

1. Open the project, go to the Budget tab.
2. Click Add Line. A new row appears at the bottom.
3. Select an Element (deliverable) and Phase.
4. Select the Operation (type of work). The rate auto-populates from your selected rate card.
5. Enter a Task Description (specific work to be done).
6. Enter Estimated Weeks, Hours/Week, and Number of Persons. The system calculates Total Hours automatically.
7. Enter any Materials Cost for physical goods associated with this task.
8. Adjust Margin % and Contingency % if different from the project default.
9. The Sales Price column shows the calculated billable amount.
10. Optionally enter Start and End Dates for this task — these link the budget to the schedule.

The Actual Hours and Actual Cost columns on each budget line update automatically when timesheets are approved:

• Team members log hours against specific budget line items in the Timesheets module.
• When a Project Manager approves the timesheet, the hours and cost are pushed to the budget.
• The budget then shows Estimated vs Actual side by side, giving you a live burn rate view.
• You can also manually enter actual costs using the "Upload Costs" feature or editing the Actual fields directly.

Snapshots capture the budget at a point in time — useful before a contract change or at project milestones. You can compare any snapshot against the current live budget to see what has changed.

Variation Orders record approved scope changes with their financial impact. Each variation order is linked to specific budget lines and tracks the agreed change in value, providing an audit trail for project changes.

The Capacity Forecast needs to know how many hours each department will spend on each phase of each project. There are two ways this is populated:

1. Automatic (Synthetic) Calculation: QuadrAct sums all budget line hours per phase and distributes them to departments linked to that phase. This is the default and requires no manual input.
2. Manual Override: In the Capacity Forecast page, click a project/phase cell and manually enter the department hours. This overrides the synthetic calculation for that combination.

Either way, the hours are paired with dates from the Phase Schedule (see Section 5) to plot demand over time on the chart.

The Phase Schedule defines when each phase of the project takes place. This is the primary driver for the Capacity Forecast chart — without phase dates, the chart cannot plot demand over time.

Access it from Project Charter → Phase Schedule tab.

• For each phase, set a Start Date, End Date, and Estimated Hours.
• You can use Time Slots for phases that run in multiple separate periods (e.g. site work in two separate mobilisations).
• If you only set a start date (or only an end date), QuadrAct derives the missing date automatically using estimated hours at 40hrs/week and saves it back to the database.
• Manual Override: Tick this to fix dates manually, preventing them from being recalculated from detailed schedule imports.

Below the phase-level schedule, you can manage a detailed task-by-task schedule accessed from the Schedule page in the main navigation.

• Tasks can be linked to budget line items for integrated planning.
• Each task has start/end dates, duration, predecessors, assigned resources, and a completion percentage.
• Three views are available: List View (spreadsheet style), Gantt View (horizontal bar chart), and Timeline View.
• Tasks can be imported from MS Project XML exports.
• Milestones can be flagged separately and are highlighted differently in the Gantt.
• Progress percentages feed the Progress Overview dashboard.

The Progress Overview page provides a cross-project view of completion across all phases and elements. It is driven by the percentage complete values set on tasks and phases.

• Update task completion percentages in the Schedule view.
• Phases roll up to an overall project completion percentage.
• Use Progress Status (Planned / In Progress / Overdue / Complete / N/A) per task to give a traffic-light view to stakeholders.
• The PM Dashboard aggregates status updates across all projects with a weekly traffic light summary.

All of the following must be in place for a project to appear in the forecast:

1. Departments exist with weekly capacity set (Section 2).
2. Departments are linked to Phases via the "Assigned Phases" field on the Department (Section 2).
3. The project has a Phase Schedule with start dates, end dates, and estimated hours for each phase (Section 5).
4. Either: the project has Budget line items with hours assigned to phases, OR the phase schedule has estimated hours (QuadrAct uses whichever is available, preferring budget items).

• Projects: Multi-select which projects to include. All projects are selected by default. Deselect to isolate specific project loads.
• Department: Show all departments stacked, or isolate a single department's view.
• Start / End Date: Set the date window for the x-axis.
• Show bids ≥ X% likelihood: Slider that controls which bidding projects appear. Set to 100% to show only confirmed work; set to 0% to see all possible future demand.

Click any bar on the chart to open the Week Breakdown panel below. This shows:

• Total demand hours for that week.
• Total capacity hours for that week.
• Utilisation % (demand ÷ capacity).
• A project-by-project breakdown showing how many hours each project contributes that week.

This helps you understand which projects are driving overload in a specific week and take action (e.g. re-phasing work or adding resource).

For projects that are actively running with known resource plans, you can override the synthetic budget-based calculation and directly enter department hours per phase. Navigate to the Phase Capacity tab on the project (or use the Capacity Forecast table view) and enter hours directly against each department for each phase.

Once any manual record exists for a project+phase+department combination, it takes precedence over the synthetic calculation. To revert to automatic, delete the manual record.

Team members log their hours from the Timesheets page. Each entry links to a specific project and budget line item, ensuring the cost flows back to the right place in the budget.

1. Click Add Entry on the Timesheets page.
2. Select the Project and Budget Line Item (the specific task).
3. Select the Operation (defaults to your profile's default operation).
4. Enter the Date and Hours.
5. Add a note or description if needed.
6. Submit. The entry is marked Pending until approved.

Project Managers and Admins approve pending timesheets. Approval triggers the actual hours/cost update in the budget.

1. Go to Timesheets and filter to Pending entries.
2. Review the entries for the week/period.
3. Click Approve (individual) or use bulk selection to approve multiple at once.
4. Approved entries immediately update Actual Hours and Actual Cost in the Project Budget.

Navigate to Invoicing. QuadrAct lets you create invoices in two ways:

1. Import from Timesheets: Select a project and date range. The system imports approved timesheet entries, groups them by operation, calculates the value using the project's rate card, and populates invoice lines. You review and confirm before saving.
2. Manual Invoice: Create an invoice from scratch with custom line items for milestone-based billing.

Each invoice can be exported as a PDF using the Print/PDF button and sent to the client.

Team members submit expense claims for reimbursable costs (mileage, materials, accommodation, etc.) via the Expenses page.

• Each claim has a category, amount, date, and project link.
• Receipts can be uploaded as attachments.
• Claims are approved by managers, then paid via bank transfer using the bank details on the user's profile.
• Approved expenses can be imported into invoices if they are billable to the client.

Go to Meeting Minutes and click New Meeting. Fill in:

• Meeting Title, Date, and Project.
• Attendees: Add each person's name and email. QuadrAct pre-fills from the project's stakeholder list.
• Agenda Items: Each item has a title, status (Open / Info / Completed), notes, and optional due date.
• Action Items per Agenda Item: Assign specific follow-up actions with an owner and due date.
• Previous week's meeting notes can be pulled in for reference using the "Previous Notes" button.

If you use Heypocket (an AI meeting assistant), QuadrAct can automatically sync your meeting summaries, action items, and mind maps directly into the Meeting Minutes module.

1. Add your Heypocket API key in My Profile → Heypocket API Key.
2. Click Sync Heypocket on the Meeting Minutes page.
3. QuadrAct fetches all your Heypocket recordings and classifies them as Meeting Minutes, Action Items, or Mind Maps.
4. If the recording title contains a project code, it is automatically linked to that project. Otherwise it goes to your private Heypocket Inbox.
5. From the Inbox, review draft minutes and assign them to a project.

Click the Preview button on any meeting record to open the print view. This renders a formal document with your company header, meeting details, agenda items with notes, and an action items table at the bottom. Click Print / PDF to save or send.

In addition to meeting action items, each project has a standalone To-Do List (accessible from the main navigation). Use this for day-to-day tasks that don't arise from a formal meeting — e.g. "Chase supplier for delivery date", "Update programme", "Send revised drawing to client". Tasks have priorities, assignees, and due dates.