Archiving vs completing a project — when to use each

Buildra has two ways to take a project out of your active list: Complete and Archive. They look similar from the outside but mean different things. Picking the right one keeps your reporting clean and your books honest.

Complete: the books are closed

Use Complete when the project is finished and the financials are final. Completing locks the budget, the schedule of values, and the change order log. Pay applications can no longer be edited (though they remain viewable). Time entries close. Nothing in the financial stack can be quietly changed after the fact.

Completed projects show up in your portfolio and appear in year-over-year revenue reports. They count toward your completed-project count but not against your tier's active limit.

Archive: out of the way, ledger open

Use Archive when a project goes on hold, gets cancelled, or just clutters the active list but you do not want to formally close the books. Archived projects are hidden by default, their data remains intact, and they can be unarchived at any time. The budget and pay apps stay editable.

Archived projects do not count toward your active-project cap, so archiving is the right move when you are bumping against a tier limit but the project is not truly done.

The decision tree

1. Is the project physically done? If no, archive.
2. Is every change order signed and every pay application paid? If no, archive (finish the paperwork first).
3. Are you confident no further adjustments will be made? If no, archive.
4. If yes to all three, complete.

Warning: Completing a project is reversible (an Owner can re-open) but doing so creates a permanent audit log entry. Treat completion as a deliberate, considered action.

How to archive a project

1. Go to the project dashboard, click the gear icon → Project settings.
2. Scroll to Lifecycle.
3. Click Archive project.
4. Confirm in the modal.

The project disappears from the active list within a second. To unarchive, click the Archived filter on the project list and find it — the same Lifecycle card has an Unarchive button.

How to complete a project

1. Open the same Project settings page.
2. Scroll to the Lifecycle card.
3. Click Mark complete.
4. Confirm the close-out checklist (no open RFIs, no draft pay apps, no unapproved change orders).
5. Click Complete project.

Common mistakes

• Completing too early. If you complete and then need to issue one more change order, you have to re-open the project, which leaves an audit log entry. Archive while paperwork is finishing.
• Archiving and forgetting. Archived projects do not appear in revenue reports. If a cancelled project was partially billed, complete it at the partial amount so the revenue lands in your books.