Clients and engagements

A client is the commercial anchor for each engagement. The manager records its contract value, budget hours, dates and type, then links it to the client and owning organization. Active Clients and Proposed Engagements keep new work separate from delivery already in progress. The engagement record also gathers delivered amount, logged hours, expenses and remaining billable value as work progresses.

The client owner maintains the relationship; the engagement manager owns the delivery commitment. The practice lead reviews the capacity and commercial exposure before the work is marked active.

• Client terms. Keep the billing terms and contact on the client so the coordinator can interpret payment timing.
• Scope and dates. Record a realistic start and end date with the agreed contract value and budget hours.
• Ownership. Name the engagement manager and owning organization before the first service line.

Agree when a proposal becomes active, how changes to contract value are approved, and who can close an engagement. Pick one engagement type that matches the commercial agreement. Review billing terms with the client owner before importing open work. Decide whether old completed engagements need to be loaded for comparison.

A designer agrees a fixed fee engagement with a retail client. The manager records the client, contract value, budget hours and end date while the work is proposed. After scope is accepted, the manager marks it active. The consultant then attaches service lines to that engagement. The practice lead opens Engagement Margin and checks delivered amount against contract value as the job progresses. When delivery closes, the manager marks the engagement completed but the billing coordinator still checks open milestones and payments.

The manager also checks whether the client is Active before assigning new work. The account owner confirms the contact and billing terms on the client record, while the manager confirms the engagement dates with the delivery team. This gives billing a clear starting point when the first milestone comes due.

Before release, compare the client’s billing terms with the open milestone payment dates. Ask the manager to explain any engagement marked completed while a payment remains overdue. Keep the client owner informed of a scope or contact change, and check that the next service line still points to the right engagement. This rehearsal protects the link between commercial promise and delivered work.

• Active Engagements — Active client work with its manager, end date and contract value.
• Proposed Engagements — New scopes awaiting a delivery start.

Follow Engagement to collection and check the data model before importing open work.