--- title: Project Retainer Coverage keywords: project retainer, add project to a retainer, retainer coverage, covered by retainer, covered by retainer column, retainer filter, retainer linking, retainer balance, pre-paid services, service agreements, projects covered, invoice splits and retainers, remove project from retainer summary: How to link a project to a client retainer so that billable work is drawn from the pre-paid balance, where coverage is shown on the project, the Projects list and the retainer, and how to change or remove the link. url: /matter updated_at: "2026-11-09T00:00:00Z" --- # Project Retainer Coverage A project can be covered by one of its client's [retainers](../clients/retainer.md), so that the billable work logged on the project is drawn from the retainer's pre-paid balance instead of being invoiced on its own. This article explains how to add a project to a retainer, where coverage is shown, and how to change or remove it. ## What is project retainer coverage? Project retainer coverage is the link between a project and a client's retainer. While a project is covered by a retainer, the billable work logged on it counts against the retainer and draws down its balance. The retainer's own settings — its periods, amount, billable types and how overflow and unused balance are handled — determine the details; see [Retainers](../clients/retainer.md). Each project can belong to only one retainer at a given time, and the retainer must belong to the same client as the project. ## Adding a project to a retainer ### From the project page The **Add project to a retainer** action appears on the project page only when the project's client already has at least one open retainer. 1. Open the project (**Projects**, then the project). 2. In the project action bar, click **Add project to a retainer**. ![The project action bar, with the Add project to a retainer button](../screenshots/project-retainer-coverage-button.png) 3. The **Add project to a retainer** dialog opens. ![The Add project to a retainer dialog](../screenshots/project-retainer-dialog.png) The dialog shows the message: *This project will be added to the selected retainer. Projects can not be connected to a retainer that is already set to cover all of the client's projects.* 4. Choose the retainer in the required **Retainer** field. Only retainers that can cover this project's client are listed. 5. Click **Save**. The dialog's buttons are **Cancel** (closes the dialog without saving) and **Save** (applies the selection). It also has a **Delete** button, which asks you to confirm before continuing. ### From the retainer 1. Open **Retainers** in the main navigation and open the retainer. 2. Click **Edit retainer**. 3. In **Projects covered**, choose **All projects**, **Selected projects** or **No projects**. If you choose **Selected projects**, add the projects in the **Selected projects** field. 4. Click **Save**. > **Note:** Internal and confidential projects cannot be covered by retainers. A retainer that is already set to cover all of the client's projects cannot be chosen for an individual project. ## Understanding retainer coverage Once a project is covered by a retainer: - The billable work logged on the project counts against the retainer and draws down its balance. - The retainer's **Charge billables that exceed retainer** and **What to do with unused retainer** settings decide what happens above and below the retainer amount. - The project's own billing settings (for example its billing email address, buyer reference and invoice layout) still apply to the project. ### What counts against the retainer Only the billable types selected in the retainer's **Billable types** field are drawn from the retainer: **Time**, **Travels**, **Products**, **Expenses** and **Per diems**. Work of a type the retainer does not cover — and work on projects the retainer does not cover — does not draw on the retainer balance. ## Retainer coverage and invoice splits A project covered by a retainer cannot use invoice splits. When a project is covered, its **Invoice split** card says *No invoice splits defined in this project.* together with *Invoice splits are not available for projects covered by a retainer.*, so no split can be added. The restriction also applies when configuring the retainer: a retainer cannot be set to cover **All projects** for a client if one of the client's projects already has invoice splits configured, because such a project cannot be covered. See [Invoice Splits](../billing/invoice-splits.md). ![Adding all of a client's projects to a retainer is rejected when one of the projects has invoice splits configured](../screenshots/project-retainer-coverage-reciprocal-guard.png) To cover a project that has invoice splits, remove its invoice splits first. ## Managing retainer coverage ### Where coverage is shown **On the project page**, the **Retainers** card lists each retainer that covers the project, with its start date, period type, amount and status (for example **Active**); clicking a row opens the retainer. When no retainer covers the project, the card says *No retainers are covering this project.*, and a **New retainer** action creates a retainer for the project's client. The **Unbilled** card also notes *This project is covered by a retainer so it is not billed individually.* and links to the retainer. **On the Projects list**, the **Covered by retainer** column shows whether a project is covered, and the **Retainer** filter limits the list to **Covered by any retainer**, **Covered by active retainer**, **Covered by inactive retainer** or **Not covered by any retainer**. **On the retainer**, the detail view shows the retainer's **Status** and **Projects covered**, and the **Retainer flow** and **Accumulated unbilled** sections with the amount, used, unused and exceeding amounts per period. See [Retainers](../clients/retainer.md). ### Removing a project from a retainer 1. Open **Retainers** and open the retainer. 2. Click **Edit retainer**. 3. In **Projects covered**, remove the project from the selection. 4. Click **Save**. Future work on the project no longer counts against the retainer. ### Moving a project to another retainer 1. Remove the project from its current retainer (see above). 2. Add it to the other retainer (see [Adding a project to a retainer](#adding-a-project-to-a-retainer)). A retainer that already covers all of the client's projects does not appear as a choice for an individual project. ## Best practices - **Add projects at the start of the engagement** so that the work is tracked against the retainer from the first entry. - **Use the right client's retainer** — the retainer must belong to the same client as the project. - **Check the billable types** — if work is not being drawn from a retainer, confirm that the project is covered and that the billable type is selected on the retainer. - **Review coverage before invoicing** — filter the Projects list by **Not covered by any retainer** to catch projects that should be covered. ## Troubleshooting **I don't see Add project to a retainer on the project page** - The project's client has no open retainer. Create a retainer for the client first; see [Retainers](../clients/retainer.md). - You may not have permission to edit the project. **The retainer I need is not listed in the dialog** - The retainer must belong to the same client as the project. - A retainer that already covers all of the client's projects cannot be chosen for an individual project. ## Related documentation - [Retainers](../clients/retainer.md) — creating retainers, periods, amounts, billable types and the retainer detail view - [Invoice Splits](../billing/invoice-splits.md) — dividing a project's billing across clients (not available for retainer-covered projects) - [Multiple Payers on a Project](multiple-payers-on-a-project.md) — invoice splits, payer preferences and per-entry payers - [Project Billing Settings](project-billing-settings.md) — project billing and invoice fields - [Projects](projects.md) — the Projects list, its columns and filters - [Retainers (Data)](../data/retainers.md) — the retainers data table