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Core Concepts

Vantage is built around a simple hierarchy: Companies have Projects, Projects have Tickets and Time, Time becomes Invoices. Everything flows together.

The Vantage Hierarchy

Company (Client)
  └── Projects
        ├── Tickets (support/tasks)
        ├── Time Entries
        └── Budget tracking
              └── Invoices (from time + expenses)

Companies

Companies are the organizations you do business with. Each company can have:

Use health scores to identify at-risk companies before they churn. Vantage automatically flags companies with declining activity or overdue invoices.

Projects

Projects are containers for billable work. Every project has:

ComponentPurpose
BudgetHours or fixed fee cap
RateBilling rate (can override company default)
MilestonesKey deliverables and due dates
TeamWho can log time to this project

Project Types

Tickets

Tickets are units of work within a project. Use them for:

Tickets have statuses, priorities, and can be assigned to team members. Time logged against tickets rolls up to the parent project.

Time Tracking

Time is the currency of your agency. Vantage tracks time in three ways:

  1. Timers - Start/stop with one click
  2. Manual Entry - Log time after the fact
  3. Timesheets - Weekly view for bulk entry

Time entries link to a project (required) and optionally a ticket. This connection is what makes one-click invoicing possible.

Billable vs Non-Billable

Every time entry is marked as:

Non-billable time still counts toward project budgets and utilization reports.

Invoices

Invoices are generated from approved time and expenses. The flow:

  1. Team logs time to projects
  2. Manager approves time entries
  3. One-click invoice generation
  4. Invoice sent to company
  5. Payment tracked in AR aging

Retainers

Retainers are prepaid buckets of time. When a company pays upfront:

  1. Create a retainer with the purchased hours
  2. Time logged draws down from the retainer
  3. Vantage alerts when balance is low
  4. Company tops up or converts to T&M

How It All Connects

Here’s how a typical workflow flows through Vantage:

1

Company emails a request

Email-to-ticket creates a ticket in their project automatically.

1

Team works the ticket

Developer starts a timer, works the issue, stops when done.

1

Time accumulates

Project dashboard shows real-time budget consumption.

1

Invoice at month end

One click generates an invoice from all approved time.

1

Company pays

Payment recorded, AR aging updates, profitability calculated.

Key Principles

Everything Connects

Unlike tools where you manually reconcile data, Vantage keeps everything linked:

Real-Time Visibility

Dashboards update instantly:

Permissions Flow Down

Access is hierarchical:

Next Steps