Most freelancers can tell you which projects they are working on. Fewer can tell you, without opening five tabs, which projects are waiting on a signature, which are actively being worked, and which are finished but still unpaid.
That is what project statuses are for. Not decoration on a dashboard, but a quick answer to one question: what does this project need from me next?
TL;DR
An explicit project status turns "I think that's still going" into a clear next action. Keep the flow short: a project is a draft until there is an agreement, active once there is one, in progress while work is happening, and closed only when the work is delivered and paid. Tie each change to a real event, like a signed contract or a paid invoice. COLO moves projects through Draft, Active, In Progress and Closed automatically based on those events.
Why explicit statuses matter for freelancers
When you work alone or in a small team, status often lives in your head. That works until it doesn't:
- A project you thought was "started" never had a signed contract.
- A project you thought was "done" still has an unpaid invoice.
- A client asks for an update and you have to reconstruct where things stand.
- You take on new work because you forgot one project was still in progress.
None of this is a discipline problem. It is a visibility problem. A status is just a short label that removes the guesswork, but only if the labels mean something specific.
The problem with vague statuses
Labels like "ongoing", "pending" or "in review" feel useful but tell you very little. Pending what? Ongoing since when? If a status doesn't point to a next step, it is just a mood.
Good statuses have two properties:
- Each one implies an action. Draft means "get an agreement". Closed means "nothing left to do".
- Each change is triggered by an event, not a feeling. A project becomes active because a contract exists, not because you decided it felt active.
A sane flow: four statuses
You don't need ten statuses. For most freelance and small-agency work, four cover the life of a project.
1. Draft
The project exists but there is no agreement yet. You might be scoping, writing a proposal or waiting on feedback.
Next action: get to an agreed scope and price.
2. Active
There is a contract for the work. The project is real, even if no hours have been logged yet.
Next action: make sure the contract is signed, then schedule the work. Our freelance contract checklist covers what to confirm before you start.
3. In Progress
Work is actually happening: time is being tracked against tasks.
Next action: deliver, keep the client informed and invoice according to the agreed schedule.
4. Closed
The work is done and everything is settled. Invoices are paid and nothing else is open.
Next action: none, apart from asking for a testimonial or the next project.
The important part is the last step. "Delivered" is not the same as "closed". A project with an unpaid invoice is still open business, and treating it as finished is how invoices get forgotten.
Let events move the status, not memory
The weakest point of any status system is the manual update. If you have to remember to change a dropdown, it will drift.
The more reliable approach is to let the status follow what actually happened:
- the contract is created, so the project becomes active
- someone starts tracking time, so it is in progress
- the last invoice is paid and nothing is open, so it is closed
This is how COLO handles it. A new project starts as Draft. It becomes Active once a contract is created and In Progress when a timer starts on one of its tasks. When all invoices are paid and nothing else is open, the project and its contract move to Closed. If you delete the last proposal, contract, invoice or task on a project, it goes back to Draft. Proposals and contracts follow their own fixed flows too (for example, a contract moves from Draft to Sent to Signed), so statuses keep up with the work without a dropdown to remember.
How to adopt this if you're starting from a spreadsheet
You can apply the same thinking with any tool:
- List every open project and give each one of the four statuses. Be strict: no contract means Draft.
- Write the next action next to each project. If you can't name one, the status is probably wrong.
- Find the stuck ones. Drafts that have been sitting for weeks need a follow-up or an honest "not happening". In-progress projects with no recent time logged need a check-in.
- Don't close anything with money outstanding. Keep it in progress until the invoice is paid.
- Review weekly. Five minutes on a Monday is enough.
What a good status workflow gives you
- Fewer surprises. You see unsigned contracts before you start work, and unpaid invoices before you forget them.
- Faster client updates. The status, plus the next action, is most of the answer to "where are we?".
- Honest capacity planning. You can see how many projects are truly in progress before you say yes to another.
- Cleaner records. Closed means closed, which makes it easier to look back at what you delivered and earned.
If you're thinking about the steps before a project becomes active, our client onboarding guide covers the handover from "yes" to "kickoff".
FAQ
How many project statuses should a freelancer use?
As few as possible while still pointing to a clear next action. Four (Draft, Active, In Progress, Closed) cover most freelance work. Add more only if a stage genuinely needs a different action.
Should a project be closed when the work is delivered?
Not until it is paid. Delivered but unpaid is still open business. Closing it early makes outstanding invoices easy to lose track of.
Do I need to update project statuses by hand in COLO?
No. COLO's project statuses follow events: creating a contract, starting a timer, and paying the final invoice. That is deliberate, so statuses stay accurate without anyone remembering to update them.
What happens to a project with no contract?
It stays in Draft. In COLO, a project becomes Active when a contract is created for it.
Final thoughts
A status workflow is only useful if it is short, specific and tied to real events. Draft, Active, In Progress and Closed is enough for most freelancers. Make each one point to a next action, and never call a project closed while money is still owed.