✔️ Available on Scale subscriptions. 1

What
Formula fields allow you to calculate values dynamically using other fields in your tasks or projects. These fields use a combination of functions, standard or custom fields, and operators to create flexible, custom logic that surfaces tailored insights in reports. 
Why
  • Formula fields help you dig deeper into your project or task data by letting you create meaningful calculations directly in reports.
  • You can build formulas that reflect your team’s unique workflows, goals, or KPIs.
  • Gain greater reporting insights directly in Teamwork.com (without the need to export).
Who
  • Site admins (in the owner company) and standard users with the profile permission to manage custom fields can create and manage formula fields via custom reports.
When
Use formula fields when you want to calculate values based on your data instead of manually entering them.
What
Formula fields allow you to calculate values dynamically using other fields in your tasks or projects. These fields use a combination of functions, standard or custom fields, and operators to create flexible, custom logic that surfaces tailored insights in reports. 
Why
  • Formula fields help you dig deeper into your project or task data by letting you create meaningful calculations directly in reports.
  • You can build formulas that reflect your team’s unique workflows, goals, or KPIs.
  • Gain greater reporting insights directly in Teamwork.com (without the need to export).
Who
  • Site admins (in the owner company) and standard users with the profile permission to manage custom fields can create and manage formula fields via custom reports.
When
Use formula fields when you want to calculate values based on your data instead of manually entering them.


Before you start

Formula fields can combine existing number, date, or checkbox type project or task custom fields, as well as supported project and task properties.
  • 📝 If you don't already have project or task custom fields set up, create them to enhance your formula-building options.
The fields that can be used to build formula fields vary depending on the custom report type (project or task report), as outlined in the table below.

 Field
Project type 
Custom Report		Task type 
Custom Report
Number type custom field(s) 
✅ 
 ✅ 
Date type custom field(s)
✅ 
 ✅ 
Checkbox type custom field(s)
✅ 
 ✅ 
Logged time
✅ 
 ✅ 
Billable total
✅
 ✅
Total cost
✅
 ✅
Task total
✅ 
-
Task completion
✅ 
-
Overdue tasks
✅ 
-
Time left
✅ 
-
Non-billable time 
✅ 
-
Billable time
✅ 
-
Profit number 
✅ 
-
Profit percentage
✅ 
-
Date created
✅ 
-
Total estimated time
✅ 
-
Forecasted profit number
✅ 
-
Forecasted profit percentage 
✅ 
- 
Forecasted cost
✅ 
-
Start date
-
✅ 
Due date
-
✅ 
Original due date
-
✅ 
Difference
-
✅ 
Time estimate
-
✅ 
Progress
 -
✅ 

Use cases

As a project (or operations) manager, you want to be able to calculate additional data insights based on existing project/task properties (ex. time, profit, cost) or custom field values.

Examples:
  • Hourly profit: Break down project profit per estimated or logged hour — divide profit total by either estimated or logged time.
  • Average project cost: Understand effective (average) cost for everyone on the project — divide cost by logged time.
  • Time remaining: Highlight the time remaining on tasks (to keep within estimates) so that assigned team members have visibility of the time they have to complete the work — subtract logged time from estimated time.
  • Monthly revenue: Track monthly revenue for individual products — multiply a "Unit price" custom field by a "Units sold" custom field.

Create a formula custom field

Step 1: Choose a report (new or existing)

  1. Select Reports in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu. (Don't see it? Try under the ... More option.)
  2. Click Create custom report in the view's top right to access the custom report builder. Or scroll to an existing Custom report and click Edit to access the custom report builder.
           

Step 2: Access the formula builder

  1. Scroll to +Add column in the custom report builder's left panel.
  2. Click the arrow on the +Add column button's right.
  3. Select Create formula.
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Step 3: Use the formula builder

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  1. Enter the field's name. This will be the label shown wherever the custom field appears in reports.
  2. Confirm the field type. The field type will default to Formula.
  3. Build your formula. Use the formula builder panel to create your expression. You can:
    1. Use functions: Choose from a growing list of functions like IF, AVERAGE, DAYS_BETWEEN, ROUND, MEDIAN, and more.
    2. Add operators: Perform calculations with standard operators—add, subtract, multiply, divide, and others like logical (AND, OR) or comparison operators (>, =, <).
    3. Combine logic and values to create custom expressions that fit your reporting needs.
  4. Select from supported fields: Choose from available task or project fields depending on your report type. Custom fields (number, checkbox, or date) are also supported. 
  5. Use the inline help and examples. As you build, you'll see syntax tips and example outputs to guide you and ensure your formula is valid.
  6. Optional: Expand the Advanced options section to set the number of decimal places (for numeric      output), or add a description to explain the purpose of the formula field.
  7. Save your formula field. Once you're happy with your setup, click Save field to add it to your report.
  8. Once you've reviewed your report and are happy with the changes, click Save report, or click Update report if you're editing an existing custom report.

📝 When you save a formula, it will automatically appear as a column in your report. If you remove it from the report layout, the formula will remain available in the + Add column pane unless you explicitly delete it.

🔍 Formula custom fields are only available within Reports and won’t appear in individual task or project views.

Populate custom field data

Formulas that reference custom fields will only return results if those fields are populated. The next steps explain how to access and update those fields to ensure your formula works as expected.

Populate project custom fields

  1. Click Jump to in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Select See all projects at the bottom of the slide-out panel. 
  3. Click the plus (+) icon in the top right of the project list.
  4. In the column options, review the available fields and ensure any custom fields used in your formula are toggled on. This makes them visible in the list view, helping to ensure they're regularly reviewed and populated.

Populate task custom fields

  1. Click Jump to in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Search for and select a project.
  3. Switch to the project's Table view.
  4. Click the plus (+) in Table view's top right.
  5. Hover over More.
  6. In the column options, review the available fields and ensure any custom fields used in your formula are toggled on. This makes them visible on tasks, helping to ensure they're regularly reviewed and populated.
💡 Using List View? You can also populate task custom fields from the task details view.

View formula custom field results

  1. Select Reports in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu. 
  2. Scroll to Custom reports.
  3. Select the project or task custom report you created with the formula field.
In this example, we have an Hourly profit formula field (check the last column in below table):
  • Profit number (default column) = billable total + total cost
  • Hourly profit (formula field) = profit number / logged time

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Edit or delete a formula custom field

Edit formula fields from the custom reports builder.

  1. Select Reports in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Scroll to Custom reports.
  3. Hover over a custom report.
  4. Click the vertical ellipsis (three dots) and select Edit. You can also click Create custom report to open the builder.                                                                                    
  5. In the Columns section, hover over the relevant field and click the pencil icon. Image Placeholder
  6. Next:
    1. Edit: Update the field's details, then click Update field.
    2. Delete: Click Delete field. The custom field is deleted immediately and is no longer listed on items previously using it.

Best practices

  • Plan from the outset: Create formula fields for the data points most critical to your workflows.
  • Communicate the process: Share custom field requirements with your team and encourage them to fill them out as they create and manage work. Make sure they know which custom fields are being used in formula field calculations.
  • Report: Include formula fields in custom reports, ensuring you and your team can easily track their outputs.
1. Also available on legacy subscriptions: Enterprise.