A milestone is a named, dated point on a project that your team wants to keep an eye on, like a council approval, a client review or practical completion. Milestones are only about dates. They don't change budgets, claims or invoices.
Milestones, deliverable dates and billing milestones
Drum has a few things that sound alike, so it helps to keep them apart:
Deliverable dates cover a span of work, from a start date to an end date. A milestone is a single date. You can link a milestone to a deliverable so it's clear which piece of work it belongs to.
Planned invoices (often called billing milestones) plan what you'll invoice and when. They have their own description and planned date, and they live with your invoicing, not on the milestone timeline.
Project milestones mark the moments that matter to the schedule. Adding, moving or achieving one doesn't create, change or plan any claim or invoice.
So if a client wants to see when the design review or the council approval is due, that's a milestone. If you want to plan a 30% invoice at the end of design, that's a planned invoice.
Milestone types
Every milestone has a type, like Approval, Client review or Handover. Types are set up once for the whole account, each with a name and a colour, so milestones look the same across all your projects.
You need at least one active milestone type before anyone can add milestones. Until then, projects show No milestone types have been set up yet. instead of the Add Milestone button.
A milestone type that's no longer needed can be deleted, and a deleted type can be restored later if you need it again.
Planned and actual dates
Each milestone has a Planned date, which is when you expect it to happen. When it does happen, you set the Actual date, and the milestone is marked Achieved.
While a milestone is achieved, its planned date is locked. That keeps an honest record of what was planned next to what actually happened. If you need to change the plan, reopen the milestone first. Reopening clears the actual date.
Where milestones show
Project page, Key Details, under Programme: the project's milestones and dated deliverables on one timeline, in date order. A callout shows the next open milestone and how many days are left, or how many days overdue it is.
Project Resourcing tab: a Milestones row at the top of the timeline, where you can add, move and update milestones right next to the deliverables they relate to.
Global Resourcing, Project Programs: each project's milestones on its row, across all your projects. Expand a project to see its Milestones row in full. This works well as a deadlines board, even if you don't plan staff time in Drum.
Milestone history
Drum keeps a history for every milestone. Each change to the planned date, each time it's achieved or reopened, and each change to the actual date is recorded with who made it, when, and any note they added. You'll find the History when you open a milestone from the Milestones row on the Resourcing tab.
This is handy when a date has slipped a few times and someone asks why. Adding a short note when you move a milestone (for example, "Client asked for an extra week") makes the history much more useful later.
Who can see and change milestones
See milestones: anyone who can open the project, or who has Project Resourcing View on their account role or Resourcing View on their project role.
Add, move, achieve, reopen and delete milestones: anyone who can edit the project, or who has Project Resourcing Edit on their account role or Resourcing Edit on their project role.
Set up milestone types: people with the Template Customisation permission.
Project Programs: needs Global Resourcing View on the account role.
See Drum Permissions for more on these permissions.