Available on Grow (with limits) and Scale plans.
Also available on legacy Premium and Enterprise plans.
Feature overview
What
Allocations are the foundation of capacity management in the Schedule. Use them to plan your portfolio of work at a high level. Unavailable time allocations block out non-working periods so capacity calculations stay accurate.
Why
  • Plan ahead by allocating blocks of time for different types of work (e.g., design, review).
  • Align project tasks to their corresponding allocations when you move into delivery.
  • Balance client demand against available resources for longer-term forecasting.
  • Spot underutilization or overutilization early and resolve capacity gaps.
Who
  • Site admins can access the Schedule and view, create, and manage allocations, unavailable time, placeholders, and tentative projects.
  • Standard users with the following profile permissions can use the Schedule:
    • Access resource scheduling: lets users view the Schedule and all allocations for anyone on projects they are a member of.
    • Manage resource scheduling: lets users create and edit allocations on projects they are a member of.
When
Use allocations when taking on new clients or projects to assess capacity and plan resourcing. Use allocations to map required effort and unavailable time to track non-working time.
Learn in-app: Resource Schedule

Before you start

  • The Schedule provides two perspectives:
    • Projects: Timeline showing all projects and their associated members. Only users with allocations in the current period are shown by default under each project.
    • People: Timeline showing all people and their existing allocations across their projects. Only projects with active allocations in the current period are displayed. Scale only
  • Client users and collaborators are not included in the Schedule as they can’t be assigned to allocations, unavailable time, or tentative resources.

Allocations overview

Allocations are blocks of time reserved for different types of work. They help you plan capacity before breaking work down into tasks and provide insights into budgets and potential profit.
  • When a user logs time, their usage shows on the Schedule as a percentage of their allocation.
Schedule timeline showing allocations across users
If you add an allocation that would bring a user over capacity, a warning is shown. This applies to projects, not tentative projects.

Create an allocation

  1. Click Planning in Teamwork.com’s main navigation. Planning may be under ... More.
  2. Open the Schedule tab.
  3. Click Add allocation in the top right.
  4. Enter an allocation name. Typically the type of work to be done.
  5. Choose a color for the allocation (optional). Using the same color for the same allocation type helps you scan the Schedule quickly.
    Choose an allocation color
  6. Click the User icon (User profile icon in people picker) and select the assignee.
  7. Select a Project. Only projects where the selected user is a member are available.
  8. Enter a start and end date.
  9. Enter either the allocation’s total hours or the hours per day.
    Total hours are spread evenly across the date range. Adjusting one field updates the other.
  10. (Optional) Mark the time as billable.
  11. Click Save changes.

Drag to create

Hover an available slot on a project (or user) row, then click and drag from the start day to the end day. The allocation window opens so you can finalize details.
Drag to create an allocation on the timeline

Edit an allocation

Use drag and drop to reschedule dates or adjust duration.
  • Change duration: drag the left or right edge of the allocation to extend or reduce it.
  • Move dates: drag the whole bar to a new position to keep duration but shift dates.
Drag to move or resize an allocation

Edit allocation details

  1. Hover over an allocation.
  2. Click the pencil icon in the popup.
  3. Update details (name, assignee, project, dates, hours, billable status, description).
  4. Click Save changes.

Define the specific tasks that make up the work for an allocation.
  1. Click the allocation.
  2. Click Link task and open the Select task dropdown.
  3. To link existing tasks, select one or more from the list.
  4. To create and link a new task, click Add new task, complete the fields, then click Create task.
  5. Linked tasks appear in the allocation panel under Linked tasks.
Linked tasks displayed in the allocation panel
  • If a task assignee differs from the allocation assignee, the task will be assigned to both.
  • Reassigning an allocation does not change existing task assignees.
  • Deleting an allocation does not delete tasks.
  • Allocations assigned to placeholders (Scale) can still have tasks linked to them.

Delete an allocation

  1. Hover over an allocation.
  2. Click the trash can icon in the popup.
  3. Click Confirm.

Best practices

  • Prepare and forecast: allocate resources ahead of project kick-off so capacity is clear from the outset.
  • Plan holistically: create unavailable time entries alongside allocations so working and non-working time is fully accounted for.
  • Review regularly: review the Schedule monthly or quarterly to address utilization imbalances as they arise.

Next steps