Client Progress Tracker & Sign-off
When a project uses stages, your clients see where it stands the moment they open it: the current stage, what's next, and the one thing you need from them. They can approve a stage or ask for changes without leaving the top of the page.
New in v4.212.0. Projects without stages, or that don't share Process or Status with clients, look the same as before. Your team never sees the tracker.
Overview
Two places change for client users:
| Where | What clients see |
|---|---|
| A project page | A Project progress tracker between the project header and the tabs |
| The Projects page | One card per project with its progress and next step, instead of the table |
Both are built from the project's stages. You don't set anything up beyond the stages themselves.
When Clients See It
The tracker appears for a client user on a project when all of these are true:
- The client can view the project
- The project has at least one stage
- Process or Status is switched on and shared with the client — see Project Stages: Turning the Tabs On and the client access line
Your team, including staff assigned to the project, never sees the tracker. To check what a client sees, use View as on one of their users.
The Progress Tracker
The tracker shows:
- Project progress and the current stage's name as the heading — or Complete once every stage is done
- Stage 2 of 6 (or All 6 stages done) and Up next: with the next stage's name
- A bar with one segment per stage: done, current and upcoming. Hover a segment to see the stage's name.
- The one next step for the client (below)
The One Next Step
The tracker shows one step at a time, in this order:
| Step | When | What the client sees |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-off | You've requested sign-off on a stage | We need your sign-off on the stage, with Review the work, Request changes and Approve |
| To-dos | The client has open to-dos on the current stage or one before it | You have 2 to-dos — A quick step from you keeps the project moving. — with See your to-dos |
| Done | Every stage is complete | Every stage is complete — Nothing is waiting on you. |
| Nothing needed | None of the above | Nothing needed from you right now — We're working on the current stage. |
- A sign-off request on any stage comes first, even if it isn't the current stage.
- To-dos on stages the client hasn't reached yet don't count.
- When the stage has a Client update, the sign-off step shows it. Otherwise it says Approve to let us move on with the date you asked.
- Review the work and See your to-dos open the shared Status tab on that stage (or Process when only Process is shared) and scroll to it.
Signing Off from the Tracker
The tracker's buttons do the same thing as the sign-off card on the Status and Process tabs, and a decision made in one place shows in the other.
- Approve — the stage is approved with the client's name and the date. The tracker shows You approved the stage — thank you and Your project team has been notified.
- Request changes — the client types what should change (What should change?) and clicks Send, or Cancel. The tracker shows Thanks — we'll follow up on your changes and the project team is notified.
Only client users can approve or request changes. Notifications are the same as for the sign-off card — see Project Stages: Notifications.
Sign-off requests also appear on the client's To-Do Center as Approve items, so clients see them from their home page too.
The Client Projects List
Client users see their Projects page as a list of cards instead of the team's table. Projects that need something from the client come first; the rest follow, newest first.
For a project that shows stages to the client, the card has:
- The project name, with Open and a pin button
- A progress bar and Stage 2 of 6 · the current stage (or All 6 stages complete)
- The next step: Sign-off needed with the stage name, 1 to-do for you, Complete, or Up next: with the next stage. On the last stage with nothing pending it reads Final stage — nothing needed from you.
For a project without stages the client can see, the card shows the project's status and Updated with the date of the last activity.
With no projects, the page reads No projects yet. When your team starts one, you'll see its progress here.
Notes & Gotchas
- The tracker reads the stages as they were last saved. Unsaved edits in the stage manager don't show.
- Sign-off doesn't lock a stage. You can still advance without approval — see Project Stages: Client Sign-off.
- Turning Process and Status off for clients hides the tracker and the stage progress on their project cards.