What is a T&M Project?
A Time & Materials (T&M) Project is a project where billing is based on the actual labor, materials, equipment, and other costs used, billed at agreed rates and markups, rather than a fixed contract amount.
In BuildOps, T&M Projects allow you to manage work using the full Project Management workflow while invoicing based on real usage. Instead of billing against a predefined contract value, charges are calculated as work is performed.
For T&M Projects, billable revenue is calculated using your Pricebook. Labor, materials, equipment, and other cost types are priced according to the rates and markup rules defined in the Pricebook at the time of invoicing.
Because pricing is driven by the Pricebook, a Pricebook is required for T&M Projects. Without one, billing and invoicing may not calculate correctly.
How to Create a T&M Project (BuildOps)
Note: Time & Materials (T&M) Projects may need to be enabled for your account. If you don’t see Billing Type = Time & Materials as an option, reach out to your CSM.
Start a new project
Go to Projects → Project Management.
Click + Add Project
Step 1.1 – Project Information Overview
Fill in your project’s basic details:
Project Number
Project Name and Description
Billing Type (Required): Select Time & Materials
Status (Required): Choose the appropriate status for the project
Department (Required)
Scope of Work
Project Type and Project Subtype (if used by your team)
Start Date / End Date (consider your expected billing timeline)
Warranty Start / End Date (if applicable)
Contract Date (if applicable)
Certified Payroll (optional, if needed)
Labor Rate Group (select the rate group you want to use for labor pricing)
Step 1.2 – Customer
In this section, confirm who is being billed and where the work will happen:
Bill To: Choose one option:
Project Owner
General Contractor
Specialty Contractor
(If you choose GC or Specialty Contractor, you’ll be prompted to select that customer.)
Customer’s Project Number (optional)
Property (recommended)
Project Address (you can enter an address even if a Property is selected)
Sales Tax Rate (select the appropriate tax rate for the project)
Once complete, move to Contacts.
Step 1.3 – Contacts
Add the people who will manage and work on the project.
Internal Contacts
Project Manager (Required)
Foreman
Sold By
Internal Biller
External Contacts
GC Project Manager
GC Superintendent
Architect (name, email, phone)
Engineer (name, email, phone)
Step 2 – Add Phases
For Time & Materials (T&M) Projects, the Phases step works similarly to other projects, with one key difference: each phase uses an NTE (Not-To-Exceed) amount instead of a fixed sell price.
Note: Schedule of Values (SOV) is not used for T&M Projects.
Choose a Phase Structure
On the Phases step, choose how you want to organize the work:
Single-Phase Project
Creates one phase for the entire project. This is best for simple projects that do not need to be broken into multiple stages.
Custom Project Phases
Allows you to break the project into multiple phases (for example: Demolition, Renovation, Phase 1, Phase 2) to better track work and costs over time.
Configure Each Phase
For each phase, enter the following:
Phase Name – Describes the portion of work covered by the phase
Start Date and End Date – Defines the timeline for that phase
Status – Indicates whether the phase is in progress, upcoming, or complete
Project Manager – Assigns ownership for that phase
NTE (Not-To-Exceed) – The maximum dollar amount the customer has approved for this phase under a T&M agreement
The NTE acts as a cap for the phase. While billing is still based on actual labor, materials, equipment, and other costs at your pricebook rates, the
NTE helps ensure you do not exceed the customer-approved limit for that phase.
As work is billed, actual costs are tracked against the phase’s NTE. This amount is also used as the reference value for project progress and financial reporting, since T&M Projects do not use a traditional Schedule of Values or fixed sell prices.
Step 3.1 – Select Cost Codes
In this step, you’ll choose the Cost Codes that will be used to track labor, materials, and other costs on your T&M Project.
Cost Codes define what type of work or cost is being recorded on the project. These are used when logging labor, adding materials, and generating invoices.
Select Company Cost Codes
Under Select Company Cost Codes, choose the relevant cost codes from your company’s existing list.
You can select one or multiple cost codes
At least one cost code is required to continue
Selected cost codes will be available throughout the project for cost tracking and billing
Add Project-Specific Cost Codes (Optional)
If the project requires a cost code that does not exist in your company’s standard list on the project settings, you can add a Project-Specific Cost Code.
Project-specific cost codes can only be used within this project
These are useful for unique scopes or one-off work that doesn’t apply to other projects
Once your cost codes are selected, proceed to Select Rates.
Step 3.2 – Configure T&M Pricing
This step defines how labor, materials, equipment, and other costs are priced and billed on your T&M Project. Because T&M billing is driven by actual usage and rates, this step is required.
Select a Pricebook (Required)
Choose the Pricebook that will be used for this project.
The Pricebook provides the rates and markup rules used to calculate billable amounts
Pricebook rates apply to Labor, Material, and Equipment
Important:
Once rates have been set, they cannot be edited.
If no Pricebook is selected, or if the Pricebook is missing rate data, billing and invoicing may not calculate correctly.
Labor Rates
Labor pricing is driven by the labor rate groups and rates associated with the selected Pricebook.
Logged labor hours are priced using the assigned labor rates
Ensure labor groups and rates are set up correctly so labor revenue is calculated as expected.
Subcontractor, Overhead, and Other Markups
For cost types that are not priced directly from the Pricebook, you’ll define markup percentages:
Subcontractor
Overhead
Other
These markups are applied when costs are invoiced, allowing BuildOps to calculate the billable amount for each cost type.
Step 4 – Add Budget
In this step, you’ll set up Not-To-Exceed (NTE) limits and control how costs are tracked for each Phase and Department on your T&M Project.
At the top right of the page, you’ll see the Total NTE, which represents the combined NTE amount across all phases and departments.
For each phase shown (for example, Demolition), the Department responsible for the work, and the NTE amount is already entered based on step 2.
This NTE is the maximum amount you’re approved to bill for that Phase and Department. While billing is still based on actual labor, materials, and other costs, all charges are tracked against this cap.
Next, use Select Cost Codes to choose which cost codes can be used for that Phase and Department. Only the selected cost codes will be available when posting labor, materials, equipment, and other costs, helping ensure charges are applied to the correct work.
Optionally, you can distribute the NTE across different Cost Types such as Labor, Material, Equipment, Subcontractor, Overhead, and Other. This allows you to track spend more granularly by cost type while still enforcing the overall NTE limit.
Repeat this process for each phase you added earlier.
Before saving, confirm that the Total NTE at the top right matches the overall “not-to-exceed” amount agreed to for the project.
Click Save to complete the T&M Project setup.
