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Stages you leave only when the checks pass

Every project moves through your stages, such as Planning, Execution and Closure. It leaves a stage only when its checks pass: tasks done, time approved, the payment received. Passing a check anyway takes an approval, with the reason on record.

PLANSFrom Growth

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Why it matters

A project closed with open tasks, unapproved hours or an unpaid milestone is where money leaks. The last invoice is never raised, or the client signs off work that is not finished. Or the hours are found after the project's numbers were reported. Most project tools let anyone drag a project to the next column. In SmartMy Projects the stage itself checks the work, the time and the money before it lets go. The only way past a failed check is an approval that names who agreed and why.

The problem it solves

Projects are marked closed while tasks are still open and nobody notices until the client calls.
The last invoice is never raised because the project was closed before the payment was due.
Hours keep coming in after a project's numbers were reported to management.
When something is pushed through anyway, there is no record of who allowed it or why.

How it works

Set up your stages once (five come ready: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Review and Acceptance, Closure). Each has a target in days, the role that holds it and the checks to leave it.
A new project starts in the first stage. Its holder sees the stage, since when, and a Late badge if it stays past the target.
When the work of a stage is done, the holder presses Next Stage. The checks run: for example every task done or cancelled, every time entry approved, every payment milestone that stops moving on received.
If a check fails, the project stays. The message says exactly what is missing, such as 3 tasks still open or a payment not received.
To move on anyway, press Ask to Move On and write why. The request goes to a project manager, or through the levels of your Stage Override chain. Once approved, the project moves and the stage history shows it was passed by approval.
Entering a stage posts a line on the project feed for the team and, if you choose, the client.

Everything it does

Checks you can put on a stage

Tasks done: every task of the project is done or cancelled
Time approved: no time entry of the project waits for approval
Roles filled: every role that every project needs has a person
Key events done: the key events of the stage, such as a steering review, are done or cancelled (Scale, with key events)
Payments: a payment milestone marked Stops Moving On, once due, holds the project until it is received

Stages

Name, order, target days, the role that holds it, roles needed to start, checks to leave, final stage, folded on the board
Can Be Passed by Approval: on to start with; off makes a check strict
A message to post on the feed when a project enters the stage, and who is told (team, client)
Stages for every entity, or for one
Ready to use: Initiation (7 days), Planning (14), Execution, Review and Acceptance (7, tasks done), Closure (7, time approved)

Moving on and passing

Next Stage runs every check of the stage and fills the next stage's roles from your assignment rules
Ask to Move On lists what is not met and needs a reason
An override is draft, waiting approval, approved or rejected, with the reason for a rejection
The stage can be changed only with Next Stage; administrators can set it directly, and the move is still logged

History and lateness

Stage History on every project: in, out, days, holder, target, late, moved by, passed by approval
Where Projects Wait: every project grouped by its stage, for managers
Late is checked every hour; the holder and the project manager are told
Payment milestones can fall due when a stage starts or ends

Assigning the next holder

Rules pick a person by role, stage, city or project value
Taking turns, or the person with the fewest open projects

Who uses it

Project managerHolds stages, presses Next Stage, asks to move on with a reason, and approves others' requests.

Delivery headSees where projects wait and which are late, and approves overrides in the chain.

Projects AdministratorSets up the stages, their checks, targets and holders, and the assignment rules.

ClientReads on the portal feed when the project enters a new stage, if the stage tells clients.

Where you use it

Web: the project form (stage, holder, since, Late, Next Stage, Ask to Move On, Stage History) and Projects > Work > Projects > Where Projects Wait
Configuration: Projects > Configuration > Projects > Project Stages and Stage Checks
Client portal: the stage change as a post on the client feed
Not in the phone app yet: stages are moved on the web

What you control

Settings

Stages, their order and target days
Checks to leave each stage, from the list above
Can Be Passed by Approval per stage (on to start with)
Who holds a stage, and the assignment rules
The feed message and who is told
The Stage Override approval chain (a project manager to start with)

Approvals

Stage Override: a project manager approves to start with; add levels to the chain, or set it to Approved at Once

Notifications

Project Stage Is Yours: to the person who holds the new stage
Project Late in a Stage: to the holder and the project manager
Approvers get the request in Approvals and as a to-do
Sent in the app, by email and as a phone notification, at once

Questions

Can we write our own checks?

You choose from the checks listed here and decide which stage carries which. A new kind of check, for example a document signed off, is built by us; tell us what you need.

What if a check fails for a good reason?

Press Ask to Move On and write why. Once your approver agrees, the project moves on and its history shows the stage was passed by approval. You can also make a stage strict so it cannot be passed.

Can we rename the stages or have different ones?

Yes. Rename, add, reorder or archive stages, set the days and the holder, per entity or for all.

Does the client see the stage?

The client sees a post on the project feed when a stage starts, if you tick the client for that stage. The stage names and checks are not shown.

Which plan has it?

Growth and Scale. Key events with readiness checks come with Scale.

Related features

PROJECTSKey events with readiness checksKick-offs, steering reviews and go-lives run as key events. Each has readiness checks counted back from the day and invitations the client answers from a link. Reminders, follow-ups and the report come by themselves.PROJECTSPayment milestones with draft invoicesGive a project a payment plan, such as 30 / 40 / 30. Its milestones fall due by hand, on a date, at a stage or when a key event is done. The client is told, a draft invoice is made, and an unpaid milestone can hold the project in its stage.TIMEWeekly timesheets with approvalEach person's time for the week sits on one sheet, sent on Friday. The project manager or your approval chain approves it as a whole. Approved hours become the project's cost and what you bill.TASKSTasks on a board, list, calendar and pivotEvery project's work as tasks with assignees, priority, dates and tags. See them as a board by stage, a list, a calendar or a pivot. Stages are shared by every project, or a project keeps its own.ACROSS SMARTMY PROJECTSApproval chainsTimesheets, billing runs, expenses, budgets, stage overrides and subcontract work go to the right people in the right order, set up by you without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.PROJECTSProject feed for the team and the clientOne timeline per project where updates, tasks done, payments, stage changes and key events land, each marked with who it is meant for. The client is told on WhatsApp or by email with a link to their own view, and confirms important items with Seen.

See your next project on it.

Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.

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