Both roles are for people who run projects. A Portfolio Manager manages every project they're a member of, including its settings, rates and fixed amounts, and sees all project reports. A Project Manager starts with less: settings, rates and fixed amounts are switched on project by project.
You give either role under Assign Roles on a team member's contact record in Contacts. The app describes them like this:
- Project Manager: "Can access contacts without billable or cost rates, project settings if allowed and certain project reports".
- Portfolio Manager: "Can access contacts, project settings, timesheet settings and project reports".
What both roles have in common
- Only their own projects. Both see and open only the projects they're a member of. Administrators and Finance Managers are the roles that see every project. The one exception is reports, where Portfolio Managers see every project's data (see below).
- Projects. Both can create projects, and archive, restore and delete the projects they're members of. They don't need the Project Collaborator role to open a project.
- Contacts. Both can invite and edit team members and customer contacts.
- Team members only. Neither role can be given to a customer contact.
- No approvals. Neither role approves timesheets or expenses. For that, give the person the Timesheet Approver or Expense Approver role, which only an Administrator can assign.
Side by side
Portfolio Manager | Project Manager | |
|---|---|---|
Project Settings | On every project they're a member of | Only where their membership has Can Manage this Project's Settings ticked |
People's cost and billable rates | Yes, on contacts and projects | Only on projects where Can manage Project Member Cost & Billable Rates is ticked; never the defaults on contact records |
Fixed amounts on tasks | On every project they're a member of | Only where Can manage Fixed Amounts on project is ticked |
Project Membership tab on a contact (add someone to many projects, set their rates in bulk) | Yes | No |
Settings › Timesheet Settings | Yes | No |
View and edit other people's timesheets | Yes | No |
Project reports | All of them, for every project | A shorter list, for their own projects only (see below) |
Roles they can give | Project Collaborator, Timesheet/Expense User, Scheduling User, Chat User, Schedule Viewer and Project Manager | The same |
Only an Administrator can give the Portfolio Manager, Finance Manager, Administrator, Timesheet Approver, Expense Approver and Scheduling Manager roles.
Widen a Project Manager's access on one project
Open the project's settings from the ⋮ next to its name and go to the Members tab.
Click the Project Manager's name to open Person Details.
Under Project Roles, tick what they need: Can Manage this Project's Settings, Can manage Project Member Cost & Billable Rates, Can manage Fixed Amounts on project. Then click Save.
Only Administrators, Finance Managers and Portfolio Managers see these three options, and only for members who have the Project Manager role. For Administrators, Finance Managers and Portfolio Managers themselves, the options are always ticked and can't be changed. If you don't see them for someone, give that person the Project Manager role on their contact record first.
A Project Manager opens a project's settings from the ⋮ next to the project's name. The row menu on All Projects doesn't offer Project Settings to them.
Reports
Portfolio Managers can run every team report in the Project Management group, with every project's data. See project management reports.
Project Managers can run these reports, and only see data from projects they're a member of:
- Task List, Timesheet Details, Timesheet Week View and Timesheet Summary
- Schedule Details and Schedule vs Timesheets
- Project Summary Report, Project Dashboard, Project Profitability and Project Profit Margin Analysis
- Fixed Amount Details
They don't see the Staff Utilisation Report, Project Earnings and Remaining Value, Fixed Amount Revenue or Project Budget Analysis.
In those reports, a Project Manager sees cost and billable amounts only for projects where they have Can manage Project Member Cost & Billable Rates, and fixed amounts only where they have Can manage Fixed Amounts on project. The financial widgets on a project's Summary need both.