Section 3.2: Work Packages & Milestones

In ABRAM, project scopes are organized using a strict hierarchical blueprint. Work Packages serve as structural phases of a project, which house actionable Deliverables, Work Orders, and Payment Milestones.

1. What is a Work Package?

A Work Package is a container that groups related tasks, crew schedules, and deliverables for a specific phase of a project.

Core Properties

• Package Name: e.g., "Pre-Production & Development".
• Package Type: Categorized as Pre-Production, Production, Post-Production, or Coordination.
• Budget Allocated: The portion of the project budget assigned to this package (e.g., $12,500).
• Sequence Order: The package's position in the project timeline. This is calculated automatically based on dates and dependencies, so you don't need to set it by hand.
• Estimated Hours: A read-only total calculated from the hours logged across the package's tasks and deliverables.
• Location Requirement: Whether the work happens Remote, On-Site, or Hybrid.
• Billing Cadence: Whether the package is billed as a single Project-Based payment or as Monthly Recurring billing.

The Status Lifecycle

Work packages progress through a defined lifecycle to help you track progress:

• Planning: Initial state when the package is created.
• Matching: Roster search is active, and the system is scanning matching criteria.
• Staffed: Freelancers are successfully booked and invitations are accepted.
• In Progress: Work is active (triggered automatically when the start date arrives).
• On Hold: Work is temporarily paused without releasing booked crew or resources.
• Completed: Deliverables are signed off and milestones are locked.
• Cancelled: Work has stopped, releasing any booked crew or resources.

The Summary Panel

Opening a work package for editing shows a Summary Panel with three tabs — Overview, Tasks & Milestones, and Crew Bookings — so you can review a package's scope without leaving the edit view. The Overview tab surfaces live warnings if the package's logged hours or spend are approaching or exceeding its allocated budget.

2. Defining Milestones (Payment Milestones)

A Milestone represents a major checkpoint or event in the project timeline (e.g., "Script Lock", "Rough Cut Approval", "Final Handover").

Properties

• Title & Description: Detailed criteria for milestone achievement.
• Target Date: Due date for the checkpoint.
• Status: Tracks milestone progression: Planning, Not Started, In Progress, In Review, Delayed, On Hold, Completed, or Blocked.
• Assignee: The team leads or freelancers responsible for the milestone. This field is multi-select, so you can assign several people to the same milestone.
• Estimated Hours: The planned number of hours needed to reach the checkpoint.
• Client Portal Visibility: A toggle that controls whether a milestone is visible to your client in their client portal.

Milestone Payments (Escrow & Release)

If a milestone is tied to a billing trigger, you can set a Payment Percentage:

• Budget Allocation: Allocate a percentage of the total project budget to be paid upon completion (e.g., 20% on "Rough Cut Approval").
• 100% Cap: ABRAM validates payment percentages across all of a project's milestones as you enter them and blocks saving a milestone if the total would exceed 100% of the project budget.
• Completion Payout: When the milestone status is updated to Completed, the system marks the corresponding portion of the budget as unlocked for invoice generation.

3. Defining Deliverables

A Deliverable is a specific creative asset or output that must be produced within a Work Package. Each deliverable has a type (File, Link, or Milestone), a priority level, estimated hours, and any included revision rounds, and can be linked to other deliverables with a Dependency — marking one deliverable as "Blocks" or "Relates To" another so the team can see hand-off order at a glance.

For the full deliverable review and approval workflow, see Section 3.8: Deliverables — Review & Approval.