--- title: Global Settings keywords: settings, global settings, system settings, management settings, accounting periods, internal settlement, system configuration, administration settings, daily target, distance unit, project settings, feature toggles, billing VAT rate summary: Guide to the Management > Settings page in Manor, describing every settings card shown there — billing VAT rate, daily target, date and time, distance unit, project settings, accounting periods, internal settlement, pricing settings, and feature toggles — and how to edit them. url: /management/settings --- # Global Settings ## Introduction The **Management** → **Settings** page holds organization-wide settings that apply across all projects, users, and firms. It is where administrators configure defaults that individual projects and users inherit, enable optional system features, and adjust how Manor behaves for everyone. Editing these settings requires the **Can manage settings.** permission. Configuring global settings properly helps you: - **Standardize business workflows** — Ensure all users and departments operate under consistent rules. - **Support complex business models** — Enable advanced operations such as inter-department settlements and non-standard billing cycles. - **Maintain system integrity** — Keep system behavior aligned with company policies and external accounting requirements. ## The Settings Page at a Glance Open the page from **Management** in the main navigation, then select **Settings**. The page presents a stack of cards — each card is a group of related settings, with the current value of every setting shown and an **Edit** button at the bottom. ![Management > Settings, showing the settings cards with the current values](../screenshots/global-settings-page.png) The cards are, in order: - **Billing VAT rate** - **Daily target** - **Date and time settings** - **Distance unit** - **Project settings** - **Accounting period** - **Internal Settlement** - **Pricing settings** - **Features** ## Billing VAT Rate Sets the default VAT rate used on invoices. - **Billing VAT rate** — The VAT rate applied to invoices by default. Available rates are maintained under [VAT Rates](vat-rates.md). A different rate can also be set per firm in firm settings. ## Daily Target Sets the default number of hours every user in the company is expected to work per day. This is a dashboard metric used to judge whether a day is full, short, or over; individual users can override it in their own profile. - **Daily target** — The expected hours per day, entered in `HH:MM` format (for example `08:00`). A value of `00:00` means no target is defined. ![The Daily target dialog, opened from the Daily target card](../screenshots/workday-length-daily-target-dialog.png) For how the company default interacts with per-user targets, firm calendar hours and payroll working hours, see [Workday Length](workday-length.md). ## Date and Time Settings Controls how dates and times are displayed across Manor by default. Users can set personal overrides in their own profile. - **Timezone** — The timezone used for display. - **Date format** — The order and separators used when dates are shown. - **Time format** — Whether times use a 12-hour or 24-hour clock. See [Date and Time Settings](../profile/date-and-time-settings.md) for the personal equivalents. ## Distance Unit - **Distance unit** — Choose between **Kilometers** and **Miles** for distances recorded on travel entries. ## Project Settings Defaults and optional fields that apply to projects. The card groups settings for the external identifier, project numbers, VAT and revenue defaults, billing, and balance warnings. - **Enable external identifier** — Adds an extra field to projects where a custom identifier can be stored. Its **External identifier field label** and **External identifier field help text** control the field's name and helper text. See [External Project Number](../projects/external-project-number.md). - **Project number on client-facing documents** — Controls which project number is shown on work reports, invoices and progress reports sent to clients. - **Project number in search** — Controls which project number is shown in project selection drop-downs and global search results. - **Project number in tables and reports** — Controls which project number is shown in data tables, page titles, breadcrumbs and reports. - **Default VAT setting for new projects** — The default VAT treatment applied to new projects. Changing it does not affect existing projects. - **Default revenue type in profit analysis** — The default revenue type used in profit analysis. - **Show close project offer** — When an invoice for all remaining unbilled items in a project is created, a dialog offering to close the project is shown. - **Enable billing owner** — Adds a field to the project form for choosing a user who can handle billing even for projects they do not have access to. - **Balance limit warning level** — When a balance reaches this percentage of the limit, an alert is shown and the project owner is notified. - **Internal projects of each firm are only visible to users within the same firm** — Keeps internal projects private within each firm. - **Enable project coordinates** — Adds a field to the project form for storing the project's location coordinates. For how the three project-number settings interact with Manor's automatic numbering, see [Project Number Series](../projects/project-number-series.md). ## Accounting Period Defines custom billing periods (for example, the 25th of one month to the 24th of the next) instead of standard calendar months. - **Enable accounting periods** — Turns custom billing cycles on or off. - **First day of period** — The calendar day on which each period starts (1–31). - **Last day of period** — The calendar day on which each period ends (1–31). Periods end the day before the next period starts. For a complete guide on how accounting periods work across time tracking and invoicing, see [Accounting Periods](accounting-periods.md). ## Internal Settlement Controls invoicing and cost distribution between internal departments, firms, or business units. - **Enable internal settlement** — Activates inter-entity billing workflows. - **Order of invoicing** — Whether settlement invoices can be sent at any time, or only after the client has been billed. - **Billable quantity** — Whether internal settlement entries must mirror the client's billable quantity, or may use a different allocated quantity. For full setup instructions, see [Internal Settlement](internal-settlement.md). ## Pricing Settings Controls how prices and rates are applied and presented. - **Prices for records with an alternative payer** — Whether only the payer's prices apply, or the project's prices as well. - **Rates shown in price lists** — Whether price lists show all rates or only the rates relevant to the project based on its participants and past entries. For the wider pricing configuration, see [Pricing Management](management-pricing.md). ## Features Toggles that switch optional parts of Manor on or off. - **Enable retainers** — Allows retainers to be added to individual clients, covering some or all of their projects. See [Retainers](../clients/retainer.md). - **Enable physical storage** — Enables tracking of the physical storage of project documents. - **Enable payroll** — Turns payroll on, letting you manage payroll periods and letting users confirm their logged hours. Payroll must be configured before it is used; see [Payroll](../payroll/payroll.md). - **Enable assets** — Lets projects optionally or mandatorily belong to an asset that groups related projects within a geographical area. - **Enable anti-money laundering** — Tracks compliance investigations for clients engaging in high-risk financial services. See [Anti-Money Laundering (AML)](../extensions/anti-money-laundering.md). > **Note:** Several of these features require additional configuration before they can be used. Enabling a feature makes its pages and options appear; it does not by itself set them up. ## Editing a Setting All settings are edited the same way: 1. Click **Management** in the main navigation menu. 2. Select **Settings**. 3. Find the card for the group you want to change. 4. Click **Edit** on that card. 5. Update the fields in the dialog. 6. Click **Save** to apply the change immediately. ## Best Practices - **Plan changes before modifying** — Because global settings affect all users, schedule changes during low-activity windows and tell team leads in advance. - **Coordinate with accounting** — Make sure period boundaries, VAT and settlement rules match your external general ledger requirements. - **Check firm-specific overrides** — Review individual firm settings under **Management** → **Firms** to see how firm-level configuration interacts with global settings. ## Related Documentation - [Workday Length](workday-length.md) — Setting the daily working hours and how they affect calendars and time entry - [Accounting Periods](accounting-periods.md) — Detailed guide to custom billing cycles - [Internal Settlement](internal-settlement.md) — Inter-firm and inter-department invoicing - [VAT Rates](vat-rates.md) — The VAT rates available for invoices and expenses - [Pricing Management](management-pricing.md) — Pricing setup and execution - [External Project Number](../projects/external-project-number.md) — Enabling and labelling the optional project identifier - [Firms](firms.md) — Managing legal entities, logos, bank accounts, and firm-level invoicing - [Management](management-page.md) — Central hub for organizational configuration - [Date and Time Settings](../profile/date-and-time-settings.md) — Personal timezone and date display settings