Source folderDropbox › 03 – The New Company Admin › 4 – Business Affairs › 1 – Client Legal Docs › Clients. Year folders, then client folders. Every PDF, DOC and DOCX counts, except signing logs, DocuSign summaries, drafts, redline versions and invoices.
ClientsClient folders are merged across years and aliases (PayPal, PayPal : Venmo and PayPal:Venmo are one client; Deckers - HOKA joins Deckers). A new folder name becomes a new client automatically.
MSAAny signed master, services, agency or corporate services agreement. Unsigned drafts move to Other agreements. Where an MSA also contains SOW 1, it appears once as the MSA and once as that SOW.
MSA startThe effective date stated in the agreement. When a signed copy leaves it blank, the date the later SOWs cite is used and marked.
SOW nestingEach SOW goes under the MSA whose date it cites; failing that, the latest MSA that was in effect on the SOW's date. Change orders go under the SOW they share a folder or project name with.
Last invoicedThe most recent invoice date for the client on the TNC Invoice Database (all year tabs, read live from Google Drive). Per MSA, it is the latest invoice between that MSA's start and the next MSA's start. The 2019 tab has few invoice dates, so pre-2020 activity reads light.
ActivityActive = invoiced in the last 90 days. Within a year = 91–365 days. Dormant = over a year. Never invoiced = no invoices on the database under a matching name.
SearchSearches client names, file names and every term pulled from each agreement straight away. The full text of every agreement is added as it's read from Dropbox, and each search also asks Dropbox's own full-text search, which reads scanned PDFs too.
New filesEach time the page opens (and every 10 minutes while it's open) it re-lists the folder. New agreements are read and placed automatically; their terms are pulled by pattern matching and marked New until the next full review.
Three viewsActive SOWs lists the work running today with the MSA each SOW sits under (or No MSA). A SOW counts as active when it ends after today, ended in the last 7 days, was signed in the last 30 days with no end date, or is linked to an active project and not past its end date, unless it's marked complete. Open a row to see its terms and change orders, adjust its end date, or mark it complete; the Active without an MSA tile shows the ones with no MSA on file. By client groups everything under each client: MSAs first, SOWs nested beneath, change orders under their SOW. All contracts is the full repository, filterable by type and year.
Active SOWA SOW (or a change order with no parent SOW on file) whose end date, including any change-order extension, is after today; that ended in the last 7 days; or that was signed in the last 30 days and has no end date. Anyone who can edit the page can mark a SOW complete or keep it active; that choice overrides the rule for everyone.
Editing SOW datesAn editor can set a SOW's start and end dates, with a required reason: to record a delay or extension beyond the paperwork (shown as Adjusted, with the contract date underneath), or to fill in dates from a scanned PDF the page couldn't read (shown as Entered). The active rules use these dates, and a note appears if a change order later moves the contract end date.
Invoices matched to a SOWEach invoice on the database is matched to the SOW whose title and scope share the most words with the invoice's project name, preferring the nearest earlier SOW. Generic names ("Final Agency Invoice") go to the one SOW open at that date, if there is only one. Matching is by name, so check a row flagged "check match". Recent invoices that match no SOW are listed under Active SOWs.
Non-competeEvery signed MSA was re-read for non-compete, exclusivity and competitor restrictions. Each MSA shows a flag in its header; open the MSA row for the full clause, the competitor definition and every named competitor exactly as written. Employee non-solicits stay under Restrictions. MSAs added later need the same read, so ask Claude when one lands.
Project & New BusinessEdited in the dashboard and saved there; the dashboard is the record. Add a project or opportunity with the buttons above each table, and open a row to edit it. Everyone with the dashboard open sees changes straight away.
Pipeline workflowNew Business is the live pipeline. Open an opportunity and choose Mark won or Mark lost. Mark won asks for the final value (0 if there isn't one yet; it can't be negative), the project's name (it can't match an active or completed project, ignoring capitals), the PM, the design lead and the dates. The start can't be before today; an end it had to guess is labelled estimated, and changing the start moves the default end with it. If anyone planned on the deal would go over 100%, the dialog lists who and from when; you can still save. Saving moves the opportunity to Pipeline Archive and creates the project. People planned for it on Resourcing become the project's allocations (people Confirmed, roles to be staffed Tentative). They move by the gap between the expected start and the project start, counted in working days (weekends and company holidays don't count), and stay inside the project's dates. If the expected start changes before the win, the dashboard offers to move the planned people too, keeping each line's length and ending by the expected end. A probability typed as 0.7 is read as 70% (type 60 for 60%). The Undo bar then offers Fill in project and Undo. Mark lost moves the opportunity to the archive with a required loss reason and keeps its planned people, so Reopen can bring them back. On hold opportunities stay listed at the bottom, don't count toward the hiring need and aren't flagged late. History groups the archive by quarter.
ProbabilityHow likely each open opportunity is to be won. A new opportunity gets a default from its stage, and Editors and Admins can change it. It weights the New Business planned on Resourcing in the hiring need (a 25% deal counts a quarter of its planned people) and drives the probability filter there. “Needs attention” lists open opportunities whose expected decision date has passed, rows with no Date Opened, and recent wins (last 120 days) with no matching active or completed project.
Contract checkA project with SOWs linked (Edit project › SOWs) is checked against those SOWs, using any dates edited on Contracts: it's flagged when it runs past its SOW or all its SOWs have ended. A linked signed SOW sets SOW status to Signed unless the project is set to Change order needed. A project marked Signed with no SOW linked is flagged too. Projects still negotiating (Pending signature, No SOW yet) aren't flagged; they're counted in the Without a signed SOW tile.
Team CalendarTime off only: OOO, half days, leave, tentative time off, remote days and company holidays (for everyone, or one person's local holiday). Freelancers can have time off too. Add with + Time off, or click a bar to change or delete it. Team members (under How it works) manages who appears, their type (staff or freelance) and discipline.
Projects CalendarEvery active project running in the window, listed A–Z by client then project (the Milestones this week tile counts through Sunday, so weekend milestones are included), with Potential Bottlenecks listed underneath. Click a project to expand it: its Phases (+ Phase), its Team (Plan in Resourcing →), then + Milestone on the left and Project details → on the right. In an expanded project, click an empty day on its row (including inside a phase band) to add a milestone on that date. + Milestones in the toolbar adds several at once. Weekend milestones show on the Friday before. Milestones added from a project's detail on Projects & New Business are the same records and show here straight away.
ResourcingAn allocation puts a person, a freelancer or a role to be staffed (for example Designer) on a project, a phase of a project, or a New Business opportunity, at a % of their week for a date range. Allocations are the project's team everywhere in the dashboard. Out is one rule everywhere: company holidays, OOO and Leave take the whole day, Half day takes half, and Tentative OOO and Remote don't reduce capacity; allocations pause on days someone is out, staff and freelancers alike. The Team view shows confirmed work as a share of each person's working days. Over 100% is outlined red, for staff and freelancers. Under 70% for two or more of the next four weeks is amber (Ops isn't flagged). Tentative work and New Business show as “+” on top; “Include tentative + new business” adds both in, colours each cell by the % shown and outlines who would go over. Any save that would put someone over 100% from this week on asks first: a new or changed allocation, a split with Change % from a date, a role filled by a person (which also makes it Confirmed), a phase move, a Restore or a Revert. Changing the person on an allocation that's already running asks for a hand-over date, so the weeks already worked stay with the first person. Projects lists active projects, then a New Business section where you plan people or roles for open opportunities (filter by probability or hide early stages). The Hiring need rows show, per discipline and week, how many full-time people are short, counting confirmed and tentative work, roles to be staffed and New Business weighted by probability.
MilestonesKept in one place, the Projects Calendar. The Upcoming milestone and Last milestone on Projects & New Business are read from it: upcoming is the next one that isn't done, moved or cancelled; last is the most recent done. A milestone counts as done once its date passes, unless it's marked Moved or Cancelled; set its Status to Done to complete it early. Done, moved and cancelled milestones stay on the calendar, faded. + Milestones adds several at once for one project, and each new line copies the type from the line above. A date outside the project's or its phase's dates, or a milestone that already exists on that date, asks first; same-day milestones sit side by side.
PhasesA project can have phases of work, each with a name and dates (for example Phase 1 – Design Brief), set in the project editor. The Phase shown on Projects & New Business is the one running today. Phases show as bands on the Projects Calendar, and allocations and milestones can be tied to a phase. If you change a phase's dates, the dashboard offers to move its allocations too: ones covering the whole phase follow its new dates, others shift by the same number of working days and stay inside the phase and the project (its completion date, once completed). Weeks already worked aren't rewritten: a line that has started keeps its start and only its end moves, and lines that have ended stay as they were. If the move would put someone over 100%, it asks first. Phases outside the project's dates ask first.
Completed projectsOpen a project and choose Mark complete when it wraps (the date can't be in the future). It moves to Completed projects under History with the same record, so its phases, milestones and allocations stay linked for reporting. Allocations running past the completion date end on it and ones that hadn't started are removed; milestones after the completion date are marked Cancelled. The dialog's counts follow the date you pick. Reopen puts all of it back. A completed project's allocations can't run past its completion date (reopen it to change them), and they can't be reverted from Recent changes while it's completed. In a completed project's editor, the completion date can't move into the future; moving it earlier offers to end the work after the new date in the same way. The completed project keeps its name: a new project can't reuse it (add something like “– Phase 2”).
Needs attentionThe panel under the tiles on Projects & New Business lists what needs a decision across the tabs: projects past their end date (Mark complete or move the date), projects at risk or blocked, contract check flags, missing leads, allocations running outside the phase they're tied to, milestones in the next 2 weeks with someone out, people over 100%, opportunities whose decision date has passed, completed projects that still have allocations or planned milestones after their completion date (End them), and anything an interrupted action left half done (with a Finish button). Tiles filter the table to exactly what they count, and links into Projects clear any tile filter or search so the row shows. The browser Back button moves between tabs and views.
Page layoutEach page has its view switch and main action (+ Allocation, + Milestones, + Add project…) on the top row, with other actions under ⋯. The bar on top of each table holds the dates, weeks, Expand all and other view options, and stays in view as you scroll on a wide screen; the colour key opens from Key.
Project editorProject details hold the client, name, health, SOW status, client contact and strategy. Leads are the Producer / PM and Design lead; the team itself is planned on Resourcing (Plan in Resourcing →). If a lead has no allocation on the project, the editor offers a pre-filled one; nothing is created automatically.
Undo and restoreAfter any save, delete, Mark won / lost, Mark complete or reopen, an Undo bar appears at the bottom of the screen for 30 seconds (or until your next action) and reverses the whole action. If someone changed those records in the meantime it asks before overwriting. Closed opportunities can be reopened from Pipeline Archive (History), and a win can be changed to a loss; both can also remove what the win created, but only that project, found by its record, never by name. Under Recent changes (all changes, 50 at a time), deleted records have Restore, which brings back everything deleted with them (including a person's PM and Design Lead roles), and edits have Revert, which puts back every record the same edit changed (for example the allocations a phase move shifted) and skips any field someone has changed since. Restore and Revert run the same checks as a save: nothing comes back without its project or person, and no name can be duplicated. Mark won / lost, Mark complete and Reopen aren't reversed from Recent changes: use Undo straight away, or Reopen / Mark lost instead on History. After Mark won, Fill in project keeps an “Undo the win too” button. Mark lost instead with “Also remove…” ticked keeps the project, its phases, milestones and people with the lost deal, so reopening it and marking it won again brings them all back; left unticked, the project stays active and stays linked, so a reopened deal reuses it. A rename shows as one row in Recent changes, with the linked records it updated counted underneath. Contracts changes (Mark complete, Keep active, adjusted dates) are logged and can be undone too.
Saving, names and linksA save only writes the fields you changed, and warns you if someone else changed the same fields since you opened the record. Projects are linked to their allocations, milestones, contracts and wins by a permanent record, so renaming a project keeps everything attached; no two projects (active or completed), open opportunities or team members can share a name, ignoring capitals. Saving warns (without blocking) about a duplicate allocation or milestone, a milestone outside its phase, one outside the project's dates, an opportunity named like an active project, moving a project's end date earlier than its milestones or allocations, and renaming a client so its contracts folder no longer matches. Last Updated changes only when someone edits the record itself. Editing an allocation can change its % from a date: it ends the current one the day before and starts a new one. Renaming a team member carries their allocations, time off, PM / Design Lead roles, completed projects and archived plans. Deleting a project, opportunity or person shows what depends on it first and removes it all together (and Restore brings it all back).
Contracts and projectsEach project links to its SOW(s) from the Contracts tab (Edit project › SOWs; a likely match is suggested). The project shows a contract card with dates, fee, amount invoiced, the client's MSA and any non-compete. A linked signed SOW sets SOW status to Signed. Only Change order needed overrides it, and a project set to Change order needed counts as without a signed SOW (tile, filter and contract card) until it's cleared. The project is also flagged if it runs past its SOW or the SOW has ended. One rule for an active SOW everywhere: running by its dates, signed in the last 30 days with no end date, marked active, or linked to an active project and not past its end (unless marked complete). On Contracts, each active SOW shows the project it covers, or No project. New Business shows the client's MSA and active SOWs.
Dropdown listsEdit dropdown lists, at the top of How it works, adds or removes choices such as disciplines, stages and placeholder roles. Choices already used on records stay on those records.
Potential BottlenecksA milestone is flagged when someone on that project's team is OOO or on leave that date (red), holds tentative time off that date (amber), or is out the working day before a ★ critical milestone (amber). Company holidays on a milestone are red. The team is the project's PM and Design Lead plus everyone allocated to it on that date. Freelancer bookings that end before a project's later milestones are flagged under Resourcing › Freelancers.
Backup sheetEvery night at 10:58pm Pacific, everything saved in the dashboard (including deal values, the change log and dropdown lists) is copied to a Google Sheet named “TNC Ops backup” and the date, in a folder only Admins can open. Daily copies are kept for 14 days and the first copy of each month is kept permanently. Edit in the dashboard, not the copies.
Change logEvery add, edit and delete is listed under Recent changes at the top of this tab, with who made it and when. Changes to deal values aren’t listed there.
Invoice datesA handful of tracker rows have mistyped years (for example 2925 or 2201). Those are read as the year of the tab they sit on, and flagged.