Every project involves more than the hours spent on location. A stage gets designed, a venue gets visited, drawings get made, a client gets chased for approval, and someone writes the wrap-up afterwards. On top of that, there is the work that belongs to no project at all: the warehouse day, the deliveries, the office administration.
Rentman gives you four ways to plan all of it: functions, shifts, tasks, and services. They can look interchangeable when you are setting something up, but they behave differently in the Crew planner, on your boards, and on your quotes and invoices. Choosing the right one keeps your planning accurate and makes sure the hours your team spends end up in the right place.
In this article, you will learn what each of the four is for, and how to decide between them.
Which one should you use?
The quickest way to choose is to ask what you are actually planning.
Are you planning a person's time? Then you need a function or a shift. Both live in the Crew planner, both have a start and an end time, and both answer the question "who is where, and when".
- The work belongs to a project and happens at the event: use a function.
- The work does not belong to a project, such as a warehouse day, a delivery run, or office administration: use a shift.
Are you planning work that has to be delivered? Then you need a task. A task answers the question "what needs to be done, and by when". It has a deadline, but no fixed time, so it stays out of the Crew planner.
Do you want to charge the client for a group of that task work? Bundle the tasks into a service.
The four side by side
| Function | Shift | Task | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A role to be filled at the event | A block of scheduled time for internal work | A piece of work to be done | A group of tasks you sell to the client |
| Belongs to a project | Yes | No | Optional | Yes |
| When the work happens | At the event, at a set time | At a set time | Before or after the event, by a deadline | Covers the tasks inside it |
| How it is planned | A start time and an end time | A start time and an end time | A planned time and a deadline, with no fixed start time | A cost and a price |
| Where you see it | Crew planner module and the Crew scheduling tab of the project | Crew planner module | Task boards, the Tasks module, the project's Tasks tab, and the Tasks dashboard widget | The Services tab, and the project financial overview |
Four examples
A build day: use a function
Four technicians are needed on site from 08:00 to 17:00 on the day before the event. The work has a fixed time and place, the crew need to appear in the Crew planner so you can check availability and avoid double bookings, and the hours are billable to the client as crew.
Plan this as a function. Learn more about functions.
Cleaning the vans: use a shift
Your vans get cleaned every Friday afternoon, and it takes two people about three hours. The work belongs to no project, it happens at a set time, and it comes back every week.
Create a shift called Van cleaning from 14:00 to 17:00 and plan your two crew members on it. Because the work repeats, set it up as a recurring shift rather than creating it again every Friday. Your crew can register their hours on the shift, so the time is still recorded even though no project is attached. Learn more about working with shifts.
Designing a stage: use tasks, bundled in a service
A designer needs roughly twelve hours to produce the stage design. The work happens somewhere in the three weeks before the event, and the exact day does not matter, only that it is finished before the build starts. You are selling the design to the client as part of a package.
Create a service called Stage design, then create the tasks that make it up: the drawing, the client review, and the revisions. Give each task a planned time and a deadline. The hours your team registers on those tasks roll up into the service, so you can compare what you quoted with what the work actually cost. Learn more about services.
Editing footage after the event: use a task
Someone needs to cut the recap video in the week after the event. There is a deadline, no fixed time, and one person responsible.
Create a task with a planned time, a deadline, and an assignee. If you are charging the client for the edit, link the task to a service as well. Learn more about working with tasks.
What each one does to your project finances
- A function produces a crew cost, and crew revenue when you charge for it. Both appear in your project financial overview.
- A shift does not belong to a project, so it does not appear in a project financial overview. Your crew can register their hours on a shift, so the time is still recorded for payroll and reporting.
- A task has no price of its own. It carries a planned time, and the hours registered against it become an internal cost. That is what lets you compare planned time with actual time.
- A service is what turns task work into revenue. It has a cost rate and a price, it appears on quotes and invoices, and it shows planned hours against registered hours so you can see your margin.