Field Setup Wizard
Guided multi-step wizard for creating custom fields fast - choose between 6 financial presets (Budgeting, Freelance, Sales, Estimate vs Actual, Full Financial, Custom) or 9 project templates, with smart reuse, currency configuration, and Quick Start value setting.
The Field Setup Wizard is a guided multi-step flow for adding custom fields to a project. Two paths: a financial setup flow with 6 currency role presets that drive the Cost Summary, or a project template flow that drops in one of 9 pre-configured project field sets. The wizard handles smart reuse automatically - if you already have fields with matching names, you decide whether to reuse them or create new ones.
For the broader system, see Custom Fields Overview. For the templates the wizard uses, see Field Templates.
Requires Pro
The Field Setup Wizard is part of the Pro tier. Manage your license from License Settings.
What you can do
Run a guided 4–7 step flow
to add custom fields without manual configuration
Pick a financial setup preset
Budgeting, Freelance, Sales Pipeline, Estimate vs Actual, Full Financial, or Custom
Pick a project template
from 9 industry-tailored options
Configure currency code
(USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, BTC, and 9+ more)
Adjust entity scope
before applying
Use smart reuse
detect existing fields and decide reuse or create
See a review screen
with field counts and toggle individual fields off
Set initial values immediately
via the optional Quick Start step
Link entities and set expenses
during Quick Start to populate the Cost Summary right away
How to open the wizard
The wizard opens from the Project Fields tab - open any project, click the Fields tab (Pro), then click the lightning bolt (⚡) action to launch the Field Setup Wizard. The wizard is project-scoped - it adds fields to the project's Space.
Project-scoped setup
The wizard starts from a project, then adds the selected fields to that project's Space.
The two flow categories
When you open the wizard, the first step is category selection:
| Category | Best for |
|---|---|
| Financial Setup | Money-tracking workflows - budgets, expenses, revenue, deal value |
| Project Templates | Industry-specific field sets - Project Planning, Software Dev, Marketing, etc. |
Pick one and the wizard takes you through the relevant steps.
Financial setup - 6 presets
The financial flow is the wizard's flagship - it bundles currency fields with role tags so the Cost Summary and derived metrics activate immediately.
Use financial setup for money workflows
Pick a financial preset when you want budget, expense, revenue, payment, estimate, or value tracking without building every field manually.
1. Project Budgeting
Set a budget cap and track expenses against it.
- Fields created: Budget (currency, role: Budget), Expense (currency, role: Expense)
- Optional relationship: Contractors (or Cost Sources if no CRM)
- Powers: Budget Health, Variance, Burn Rate, Runway
2. Freelance Tracking
Track payments to contractors over time.
- Fields created: Payment (currency, role: Payment)
- Optional relationship: Contractors (or Payment Sources)
- Powers: Total Payments
3. Sales Pipeline
Track deal value and revenue earned.
- Fields created: Deal Value (currency, role: Value), Revenue (currency, role: Revenue)
- Optional relationship: Clients (or Revenue Sources)
- Powers: Pipeline (Value − Revenue), Profit when combined with expense
4. Estimate vs Actual
Compare your forecast to actual spend.
- Fields created: Estimate (currency, role: Estimate), Expense (currency, role: Expense)
- Optional relationship: Vendors (or Cost Items)
- Powers: Estimate Accuracy (Variance)
5. Full Financial
The complete six-role setup.
- Fields created: Budget, Estimate, Expense, Revenue, Payment, Value (all currency with their respective roles)
- Optional relationship: Linked Entities
- Powers: Every derived metric - Budget Health, Variance, Estimate Accuracy, Pipeline, Profit, ROI, Burn Rate, Runway
6. Custom
Pick exactly which roles you want.
- You select any combination of the 6 roles
- The wizard creates currency fields for each selected role
- Useful when none of the 5 presets matches exactly
For the financial metrics the roles power, see Rollups & Financial Tracking and Project Financial Tracking.
Financial setup steps
The financial setup flow has 5–7 steps depending on choices:
Category selection
pick "Financial Setup"
Preset selection
pick one of the 6 presets
Currency code
choose from USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CNY, CAD, AUD, CHF, INR, KRW, PLN, BRL, MXN, BTC (default USD or your detected preference)
Details
entity scopes, relationship field name, options (the wizard suggests sensible defaults)
Review and mapping
the wizard shows what will be created, including any smart reuse matches (toggle individual fields off if you don't want them)
Creating
progress indicator while fields are added
**Quick Start** (optional)
immediately set initial values, link entities, and enter expenses to populate the Cost Summary
Project templates - 9 options
The project templates flow drops in one of 9 industry-tailored field sets:
| Template | Best for |
|---|---|
| Project Planning | General-purpose project metadata |
| Client Management | Client-facing engagements |
| Software Development | Engineering projects |
| Marketing & Content | Marketing campaigns |
| Event Planning | Event management |
| Consulting & Services | Consulting engagements |
| Construction & Real Estate | Physical construction |
| OKR & Goals | OKR-driven workflows |
| Game Development | Game studios |
For the full field list per template, see Field Templates.
Project template steps
Category selection
pick "Project Templates"
Template selection
choose one of the 9
Field review
see the proposed fields, toggle any off
Creating
progress indicator
**Quick Start** (optional)
set initial values
Smart reuse - duplicate detection
Whichever path you choose, the wizard checks for existing fields with matching names in your Space. If found, the review step shows three actions per matching field:
- Reuse existing - the wizard uses your existing field (preserves values)
- Update existing - the wizard updates the existing field's role/scope (e.g., adds a currency role to an unrolled field)
- Create new - the wizard creates a duplicate (rarely used; helps when you want intentionally separate fields)
Smart reuse makes templates safe to apply even on Spaces with existing custom fields. You won't end up with 5 "Budget" fields after running the wizard 5 times.
Reuse existing fields when they mean the same thing
Smart reuse helps keep one clean field definition instead of several near-duplicates.
CRM-aware relationship suggestions
When the wizard suggests a relationship field for the Financial Setup flow, the field name adapts to whether your project has CRM enabled:
| Preset | With CRM | Without CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Project Budgeting | Contractors | Cost Sources |
| Freelance Tracking | Contractors | Payment Sources |
| Sales Pipeline | Clients | Revenue Sources |
| Estimate vs Actual | Vendors | Cost Items |
| Full Financial | Linked Entities | Linked Entities |
| Custom | Linked Entities | Linked Entities |
This keeps the field name natural to your workflow.
Quick Start step
After fields are created, the wizard offers an optional Quick Start step that lets you:
- Set initial values for the new currency fields directly
- Link entities to relationship fields without leaving the wizard
- Set expense values on linked entities (so the Cost Summary populates immediately)
Skip Quick Start if you want to enter values later. Use it when you have your numbers ready and want everything visible immediately.
Quick Start is optional
Skip it when you only want to create the field setup and fill values later from the project.
Edit mode - when financial fields exist
If your project already has financial fields configured, the wizard detects them and offers an edit mode:
- See your current financial setup at a glance
- Add missing roles (e.g., add Revenue tracking to an existing Budget setup)
- Update existing fields' roles or scopes
This makes the wizard useful for upgrading an existing setup, not just bootstrapping a new one.
Confirming the wizard adds fields
Review the summary before confirming. The wizard applies the selected field setup to the Space.
Things worth knowing
The wizard is project-scoped
The wizard is launched from a project's Fields tab and adds fields to the Space (not just one project - fields are Space-wide). The project context is used for Quick Start (linking entities and setting values) and for the relationship target suggestions.
Smart reuse prevents accidental duplicates
If you've manually created a "Budget" field and then run the wizard's Project Budgeting preset, smart reuse offers to use your existing Budget rather than creating a duplicate. This makes the wizard safe to use repeatedly.
Currency code defaults to USD
The wizard defaults to USD on first use. Change to your preferred currency in the Currency step. Once you pick a code, the wizard remembers it for next time.
Quick Start is optional
You can skip Quick Start and enter values manually later from the Project Custom Fields panel. Use Quick Start when you want everything visible the moment the wizard closes.
The wizard adds fields immediately on confirm
Field creation happens during the Creating step. Once that completes, the fields exist in your Space and on every entity in scope. There's no "preview" - confirming applies the changes.
Templates can be applied on top of existing custom setups
If you've already configured fields manually, you can still run the wizard. The smart reuse system handles overlaps gracefully. Use append mode (the default) to add the template's fields to your existing ones.
Project templates don't create financial fields
The 9 project templates focus on workflow-specific fields (Status, Sprint, Methodology, Audience, etc.). For financial setup, run the Financial flow separately. You can run both - the smart reuse handles overlap.
The wizard updates existing roles
If you have a currency field without a role assigned and run the wizard with a matching preset, the smart reuse offers Update existing - adding the role tag without recreating the field. This activates the Cost Summary on already-populated currency fields.
Common questions
"Where do I open the wizard?"
The wizard launches from the Project Fields tab (open any project → Fields tab → click the lightning bolt action). It's project-scoped but adds fields at the Space level. See Project Fields Tab.
"Can I run the wizard without a project?"
The wizard requires a project context. To create fields without a project, manage them directly from Settings → Category Management → Fields tab. See Category Management Settings.
"What if I already have custom fields configured?"
Smart reuse handles this. The wizard's review step shows existing fields and offers to reuse, update, or create new. The default action (reuse) preserves your existing values.
"Can I undo the wizard's changes?"
There's no built-in undo for the wizard's changes. To reverse, manually delete the fields the wizard created from Settings → Category Management. Existing values on those fields are lost when you delete.
"Why doesn't my Cost Summary appear after running the wizard?"
The Cost Summary requires currency fields with roles assigned. The wizard does this automatically - but it also requires values entered on entities. Use the Quick Start step to set initial values, or add values manually to your tasks/projects after the wizard closes.
"Can I customise a template before applying?"
The review step lets you toggle individual fields off (so they aren't created), but the field configurations (type, options, scope) come from the template as-is. Customise after applying - name changes, option additions, scope adjustments are all editable.
"Does the wizard work in shared Spaces?"
Yes - the wizard adds fields to the Space's field set, which syncs to all members via File Sync or iCloud. After the wizard runs, every Space member sees the same fields.
"What's the difference between Quick Start and the Project Custom Fields panel?"
Quick Start is a one-time convenience inside the wizard for setting initial values and links. The Project Custom Fields panel is the permanent UI for editing values anytime. After Quick Start (or skipping it), you'll always use the panel for ongoing edits.
Where to go next
| If you want to… | Read this |
|---|---|
| Browse the 14 field types | Field Types |
| See all 17 templates the wizard uses | Field Templates |
| Set up rollups and financial metrics | Rollups & Financial Tracking |
| Use the project Fields tab where the wizard launches | Project Fields Tab |
| Track project budgets in detail | Project Financial Tracking |
| Configure relationship fields | Relationship Fields & Connections |
| Manage fields from Settings | Category Management Settings |
| Return to the Custom Fields hub | Custom Fields Overview |