Before a single task is created, the project-level settings in Maverick determine how your schedule calculates, how costs are reported, who can access the project, and what the AI is allowed to do. Getting these right at the start saves hours of cleanup later.
1. Project Start Date
The start date anchors your entire schedule. All tasks without explicit dates calculate forward from this point. Changing the project start date shifts every task that relies on project-relative scheduling, so treat it as a locked value once planning is underway.
2. Project Finish Date
Some projects are deadline-driven — you know the end date and need to work backwards. Setting the finish date enables backwards scheduling, where Maverick calculates how early each task must start to meet the deadline without any manual date entry.
3. Scheduling Method
Forward scheduling starts from the start date and calculates the earliest possible finish. Backward scheduling starts from the finish date and calculates the latest allowable start. Choose based on whether your project is constrained by when it begins or when it must end.
4. Billing Type
Maverick supports fixed-price, time-and-materials, and resource-rate billing. The billing type you set here controls how cost reports calculate totals and how resource billing rates apply to task work. Setting the wrong type causes cost reports to produce misleading numbers.
5. Resource Access
You can restrict which resources can be assigned to this project. This is essential for multi-department environments where you want to prevent accidental cross-department assignments or protect sensitive projects from being staffed by unauthorized personnel.
6. AI Controls
The AI controls section lets you enable or disable AI chat for the project, choose which AI model to use for project-level prompts, and set limits on what changes the AI is allowed to make autonomously. Configuring this before handing a project to a team ensures consistent AI behavior across all users.
7. Custom Scripts
Maverick supports project-level automation scripts that run on triggers — such as when a task status changes or when a new resource is added. The custom scripts setting is where you attach, enable, or disable these automations. Scripts can enforce workflow rules without requiring manual oversight.
8. Change History
Every change made to a project — by a user or by AI — is logged with a timestamp, the actor, and the before and after values. The change history setting controls how long this log is retained and who can view it. A complete change history is your audit trail for accountability and for reversing unwanted edits.
9. Status
The project status field (Active, On Hold, Complete, Archived) controls whether the project appears in active dashboards, whether resources can be assigned, and whether AI chat is available. Setting status correctly keeps your portfolio organized and prevents accidental edits to closed projects.
10. Folder Organization
Projects can be grouped into folders for portfolio management. The folder setting determines where this project appears in the project tree — by department, client, fiscal year, or any taxonomy your organization uses. Consistent folder structure makes reporting and filtering dramatically faster as your project count grows.