Applying Updated Settings to Existing Projects
When you update settings such as invoice markups, terms, or tax rates, those changes don't automatically apply to projects that already exist — each project may have its own unique contract terms, so BaseBuilders never overwrites existing project settings without you asking it to. This article covers how to push settings updates out to existing projects when you do want them applied.
Where Billing Options Live on a Project
On a project's edit screen, under Billing Options, you'll find:
- Invoice Markups — for example, a markup percentage on expenses and on consultant pass-throughs.
- Terms — such as Net 15.
- Tax Rates — which rates apply, and which items (labor, expenses, pass-throughs) are taxed.
- Invoice Printing Options — these control how invoices are formatted and printed — they are configured and updated independently from the billing options above.
Updating Selected Projects
If you only want to update specific projects, select them from the project list using the checkboxes, then choose Actions. From there, you can sync:
- Invoice Markup options
- Invoice Terms
- Invoice Tax options
- Invoice Print options
Running a sync action this way updates only the projects you've selected, leaving everything else untouched.
Updating All Projects at Once
To push a settings change out to every project in the system, go to Settings > Contract Management > Maintenance. From here you can sync:
- Invoice Markups
- Invoice Terms
- Invoice Tax options
Running maintenance from this tab applies the update to every project in the system, regardless of age — this can reach back several years across all your historical projects, not just the ones you'd normally think to select. Use this option deliberately, since it isn't limited to a cherry-picked set.
Invoice Print options are handled separately: to update these across all projects, go to Invoice Print Settings and choose its own Maintenance option.
What Syncing Does — and Doesn't — Affect
Updating a project's settings, whether individually or through maintenance, only affects future invoices created from that point forward. Existing invoices are never changed by a settings sync — their terms, markups, and tax details remain locked in as they were when originally created.
Best Practice
Use the project-level Actions sync when you only need to update a handful of projects — for example, a small group affected by a specific contract change. Reserve the Contract Management Maintenance sync for firm-wide changes you genuinely want applied across your entire project history, since it doesn't discriminate by project age or status. Either way, remember that a settings change alone never updates existing projects on its own — one of these sync actions is required.
Summary
Changing settings for invoice markups, terms, or tax rates does not automatically update existing projects. To apply changes to specific projects, select them and use Actions to sync markups, terms, tax options, or print options. To apply changes to every project in the system, use the Maintenance tab under Contract Management Settings (or Invoice Print Settings, for print options specifically). Syncing settings never alters existing invoices — it only affects invoices created after the sync.