# Creating a Project Every job in PAI starts with a project. The project is the container — it holds your estimates during the bidding phase, your budget once you're live, your call sheets, your vendor assignments, and your financial tracking through to the final invoice. Creating one takes about thirty seconds, but what you fill in at this step shapes how the work appears throughout the system. --- ## Creating a Project Use the **Add Project** button from the Projects dashboard or the global **+ New** button from anywhere in the app. You'll be prompted for: - **Project name** — required - **Client** — required; search existing clients or create a name-only record on the spot - **Min Hours** — the default day length for Day-unit line items; pre-fills from the org setting (typically 10 hours) - **Job Code** — only visible if Job Codes are enabled in Organization Settings; enter a custom identifier if your organization uses them (see [Reference Numbers](./Reference-Numbers.md)) Click **Create**. PAI assigns an estimate reference number (E###) immediately. The project opens to the estimate tab, ready for line item work. --- ## Client Association Every project must be associated with a client. This connects your project to the pipeline report, to campaign rollups, and to the "To:" address on your bid documents. If the client already exists, search and select. If not, you can create a new client record from the project creation modal — this creates a name-only record to keep you moving. To add the client's address (which appears below the name on externalized estimate documents), logo, and other details, open the full client record afterward in the Clients section. You can update or correct the client association from the project dashboard page after the project is created. For more on managing client records and contacts, see [Client CRM](./Client-CRM.md). --- ## The Reporting Panel Once the project is created, open the project sidebar to find the **Reporting** panel (previously called "Opportunity"). This configures how the project reports into other areas of PAI — the pipeline report, the org calendar, and revenue forecasting. **Fields:** - **Opportunity owner** — who is responsible for winning this job; defaults to the project creator - **Reported estimate version** — which version represents the current bid. Defaults to the most recent version automatically, or switches to the approved version when one exists. This also determines which estimate's calendar days appear on the organization calendar. You can override it to report a specific version; once overridden manually, it stays on that version until an estimate is approved. - **Probability** — your read on likelihood of winning (0–100%); PAI multiplies the reported version's grand total by this percentage to calculate expected revenue in the pipeline report. A $10,000 estimate at 50% probability = $5,000 expected revenue. - **Expected close date** — when you expect a decision; defaults to 30 days from project creation so it's never empty - **Lead source** — how the opportunity originated - **Opportunity type** — categorizes the type of work None of these affect the estimate itself. They exist to keep the pipeline and calendar views accurate. If your organization uses PAI for revenue forecasting, these fields are what makes that possible. --- ## What Gets Created Automatically When you create a project, PAI does a few things immediately: - Assigns an **estimate reference number** (E###) - Creates a **blank estimate version** (V1) in Draft status - Initializes the **Modifiers tab** with your organization's default modifiers You're ready to start building the estimate. See [Building an Estimate](./Building-an-Estimate.md) for what comes next.