Getting Started

Getting Started with ActiveCollab

Welcome to ActiveCollab—your all-in-one project management and team collaboration platform. Whether you're managing client work, internal projects, or a growing team, ActiveCollab helps you stay organized, meet deadlines, and work more efficiently.

This guide will walk you through the essential features and help you get started quickly and confidently

How to create an account in ActiveCollab?

To begin using ActiveCollab, you can either:

Create a free trial:

Step 1: Go to https://activecollab.com/try
Step 2: Click the “Try for Free” button
Step 3: Choose one of the following options:

Step 4: Enter your personal and organization information by filling out the form with the following information:

Full Name
Password
Organization Name
Industry
Organization Size
Website
Choose the language

Step 5: Continue to your account

Accept an invitation from another user, which will allow you to set up your account and log in

Access your personal account settings anytime at: https://activecollab.com/profile. Here, you will see a list of all company accounts you're a part of.

In the top-right corner of the screen, click on your name to access the following personal account options:

Change Password – Update your login credentials
Security – Enable or manage Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Log Out – Securely sign out of your ActiveCollab account

Once you've opened your company account, click your name in the upper-right corner of the screen to access the following settings:

Personal Settings – Manage your profile information, including your photo, name, and email address. You can also configure personal preferences such as time zone, date and time formats, start of the week, interface color scheme, and notification settings (email, browser, unread message alerts, daily reports, and update notifications). Additionally, you can set your preferred default screen upon login and customize if you wish to show week numbers on Calendar.
Change My Password – Update your account password.
System Settings – Access and modify global workspace configurations, including settings for General, Workday, Project, Calendar, Time and Expenses, and Invoicing.
Billing – Review and manage subscription and payment details.
Log Out – Safely sign out of your ActiveCollab account.

Projects

A Project is where all work happens—organized, tracked, and delivered.

Each project includes:

Tasks – Assign work, set deadlines, and group tasks into lists
Discussions – Share ideas and feedback in a collaborative space
Files – Access attachments linked to tasks, comments, or notes
Notes – Use text documents for collaborative writing or documentation
Time – Log hours worked on tasks for tracking or billing
Expenses – Monitor fixed project costs
Activity – View a timeline of all updates and changes in the project

What are Sample Projects?

Sample Projects are interactive templates that demonstrate how different industries can use ActiveCollab.

They don't count against your plan limits or active user count

They function like regular projects

You can delete or reset them at any time

To re-import, go to the Add-Ons section

My Work

The My Work section gives you a centralized view of everything assigned to you:

Tasks
Logged time
Availability
Daily activity and updates

Activity

The Activity page shows a chronological feed of updates across all projects—perfect for staying up to date or reviewing progress after time away.

Calendar

The calendar provides a visual overview of deadlines and schedules:

Tasks with due dates or timelines automatically appear
Create custom calendars with color coding and sharing options
Drag-and-drop to reschedule events
Export to Google, Outlook, or any app supporting iCalendar feeds (read-only access)
Import from Google, Outlook, or any app supporting iCalendar feeds

To create a custom calendar:

Open the Calendars dropdown
Click +New Calendar, choose a name, color, and visibility settings
Add events, notify people, and manage visibility with filters

People

Manage internal and external collaborators from the People section:

Click +New Company to add clients or subcontractors
Click +Invite People to add users, assign roles, and grant project access
Roles include: Owner, Member, Member+, Client+, Client
Adjust team member capacity to reflect their availability
Remove users by moving them to Trash (their work remains accessible)

Invoices

Issue professional invoices directly from your account:

Click +New Invoice
Choose a client and either:
Add line items manually
Generate from time records, expenses, or fixed-price budgets
Customize the invoice design and send the PDF by email

Estimates

Use Estimates to propose services and pricing:

Click +New Estimate
Add line items and send the PDF to your client
Once approved, mark it as Won and start a project from it

Reports

Gain insights and keep projects on track with powerful reports:

Projects – Advanced project search
Tasks – Filter tasks by multiple criteria
Time Report – Filter time records by client, project, job type, who tracked it, when, and whether it’s billable, while also grouping and summarizing data for clear insights. You can export the report as a CSV file for further analysis in spreadsheet apps.
Time Dashboard – Time Dashboard highlights key metrics and enables quick insights through interactive charts and filters. Click on links in widgets to access all time records that make up the numbers for further analysis and manipulation.
Estimated vs. Tracked Time – Compare planned vs. actual hours
Expenses – View fixed project costs
Budget vs. Cost – Ensure financial control
Payments – Overview of received payments
Uninvoiced – Time and expenses not yet billed
Invoices – Search and filter invoice records

Trash

Deleted items (projects, tasks, invoices, etc.) are stored in Trash for 30 days:
Click Restore to recover accidentally deleted items
Click Delete Forever to remove them permanently