Every project in TCB goes through a lifecycle. The project state tells you where that project stands — whether you are still negotiating, actively working, paused, or done. It also determines which features are available and whether the project counts toward your active project limit on the Free plan.

A project enters Pipeline automatically when you create your first document for a new client engagement — typically a Proposal or Contract. At this stage, you are prospecting: sending proposals, negotiating terms, closing deals.

Pipeline projects do not count toward your active project limit. Tasks are not loaded yet. The document types available are limited to Proposals and Contracts — the tools you need to close the deal.

Think of Pipeline as your sales stage. TCB helps you look professional while you pitch, without consuming any project slots.

When you are ready to start working on a project, you activate it. Activation is always manual — you choose when to move a project from Pipeline to Active.

When a project is activated, TCB clones the task list from your Service Type, calculates dates based on the activation date, and unlocks all document types — including Invoices, Welcome Letters, Reports, and Brand Manuals.

Active projects count toward your project limit on the Free plan (3 active projects). They appear in your dashboard with progress tracking and financial data.

TCB will nudge you to activate a project after key moments — like when a contract is signed or a proposal is accepted — but the decision is always yours.

If a project needs to be paused — waiting on client feedback, seasonal break, scope change — you can put it On Hold.

On Hold projects still count toward your active project limit. Tasks remain visible but are frozen (checkboxes disabled). You can still create new documents inside the project. When you are ready to resume, simply move it back to Active.

When a project is finished, mark it as Completed. TCB will prompt you to do this when all tasks are checked off, but you can also mark it manually at any time.

Completed projects free up your project slot on the Free plan. Tasks become read-only. Documents remain accessible but cannot be edited. The financial data from completed projects continues to appear in your Earned totals.

Projects that sit in Pipeline without activity for 90 days are automatically archived. You can also archive a project manually at any time.

Archived projects do not count toward your project limit. They remain searchable and can be restored to Pipeline at any time.

On the Free plan, you can have up to 3 projects in Active or On Hold at the same time. These are the only two states that consume a project slot.

Pipeline, Completed, and Archived projects are unlimited and do not count.

Pipeline: Proposals, Contracts

Active / On Hold: All document types (Proposals, Contracts, Invoices, Welcome Letters, Reports, Brand Manuals)

Completed / Archived: No new documents can be created

If you try to create a document type that requires an Active project (like an Invoice) while your project is still in Pipeline, TCB will ask you to activate the project first.

Pipeline — Prospecting. No slot used. Proposals and Contracts only.

Active — Working. Slot used. All features unlocked.

On Hold — Paused. Slot used. Tasks frozen.

Completed — Done. Slot freed. Read-only.

Archived — Inactive. Slot freed. Restorable.