✔️ Available on Scale subscriptions. 1

What
Create formula custom fields to make calculations based on certain project or task properties or custom field inputs. 
Why
  • Track and add key work data to increase visibility and streamline processes.
  • Gain greater reporting insights directly in Teamwork.com (without the need to export).
  • Reduce manual work while enjoying complete reporting control and flexibility.
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
Create a new formula field for each unique calculation you need to extract project or task insights.
What
Create formula custom fields to make calculations based on certain project or task properties or custom field inputs. 
Why
  • Track and add key work data to increase visibility and streamline processes.
  • Gain greater reporting insights directly in Teamwork.com (without the need to export).
  • Reduce manual work while enjoying complete reporting control and flexibility.
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
Create a new formula field for each unique calculation you need to make to extract project or task insights.

Before you start

  • Formula fields can combine existing number type project or task custom fields as well as some supported project and task properties.
    📝 If you do not already have project or task number fields set up, create them first before exploring formula fields.
  • The fields that can be used to build formula fields vary depending on the custom report type (project or task report).

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 numerical 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

Create formula fields from the custom report builder.

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. Next:
    1. New: Click Create custom report in the view's top right. 
    2. Existing: Scroll to Custom reports and click an existing project or task report. You can then skip to step 6.


       
  3. Enter a report name.
  4. Select the report type — project or task. These are the report types that support formula fields.
  5. Set the report's date range and filters.
  6. Review the report's permissions.

Step 2: Create a formula field

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

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  4. Enter the field's name. This is the label that'll appear whenever the custom field is referenced.
  5. Review the field type — it defaults to Formula.
  6. Select two existing fields (choose from supported task/project property fields or number-based custom fields). The available options depend on your report type — ex. if you're building a project report, only existing project fields are shown.
  7. Choose a calculation operator: plus, minus, multiply, divide.

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  8. Set an output format or leave it set to default.
  9. Click Save field.

Step 3: Enable the formula field in the report

  1. Toggle on each column you want to display in the report. We suggest turning on the new formula field and the two associated fields so that you can track the data in the report.

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  2. Click Save report. Click Update report if you're editing an existing custom report.

The formula field is created and the custom report is saved. Each time the formula field's associated number fields are populated the formula field result is auto-calculated and can be viewed in the report.


Populate custom field data

If any of the fields used in your formula calculation are other custom fields, those fields need to be populated in order for the formula to display a result.

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 (+) in the projects list's top right.
  4. Hover over More.
  5. Toggle on both number fields associated with your formula field (aka the two fields set as the formula field's calculation).
  6. Scroll to a project.
  7. Scroll horizontally to the number field columns.
  8. Populate the number fields.
    9. 💡 You can also populate project custom fields from the project options view.

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. Toggle on both number fields associated with your formula field (aka the two fields set as the formula field's calculation).
  7. Scroll to a task in the table.
  8. Scroll horizontally to the number field columns you just enabled.
  9. Populate the number fields with relevant values.
    10. 💡 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.

The two fields referenced in the formula field's calculation display their current values. The formula field calculates based on those inputs and displays the result.

In this example, we have an "Hourly profit" formula field:
  • Profit number (default column) = billable total + total cost
  • Hourly profit (formula field) = profit number / logged time

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Edit 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. Scroll to Columns in the builder's left panel.
  6. Hover over the relevant field and click the pencil icon.

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  7. 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.

📝 Want to manage which columns show in the report? Toggle off existing columns to hide them or click Add column to apply more columns to the report.

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.