Fields and Data Types

What is a Field?

A field is one piece of information about an item. If an item is like a row in a spreadsheet, fields are the columns.

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Common Field Types in PSS

Type	What It Looks Like	Example in PSS
Text	Type anything	Job Name, Notes
Number	Digits only	Job #, Task #
Date	Calendar picker	Due Date, Date Entered
Date Range	Start and end dates	LOI/Contract Date, Estimated/Actual Dates
Money	Dollar amounts	Project Budget, Contract Value
Category (Single)	Pick ONE from a list	Current Stage Status, Division
Category (Multi)	Pick ONE OR MORE	Scopes (Earthwork, Utilities, etc.)
User	Team member picker	Project Manager, Responsible
Email	Email address format	Contact Email
Phone	Phone number format	Contact Phone
File	Upload documents	Documents & Logs, Attachments
Relationship	Links to another app	Customer / GC → Contacts
Calculation	Auto-computed	Job ID, Variance, Overall Progress

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Key Fields by App

Projects

Field	Type	What It's For
Job ID	Calculation	Auto-generated: "Job # - Job Name"
Job #	Number	Unique identifier for the project
Job Name	Text	Project name (e.g., "Oak Grove Foundation")
Company	Category (single)	Which company/GC
Division	Category (single)	Concrete, Drywall, or Other
Scopes	Category (multi)	What work types are involved
Current Stage Status	Category (single)	Which stage is active right now
Project Manager	User	PM assigned to project
OC	User	Operations Coordinator
FOCS	User	Field Operations Coordinator
Foreman	User	On-site foreman
Project Budget	Money	Expected costs
Contract Value	Money	What you're billing
Variance	Calculation	Budget minus actual costs

Tasks

Field	Type	What It's For
Task Name	Text	What needs to be done
Status	Category	Pending, In Progress, or Complete
Due Date	Date	When it's due
Responsible	User	Who owns this task
Type	Category	Task, Recurring, or Subtask
Ind or Dep	Category	Independent or Dependent
Dependencies	Relationship	Which task(s) must finish first
Linked Stage	Relationship	Which stage this belongs to
Linked Project	Relationship	Which project this belongs to

Stages

Field	Type	What It's For
Stage Name	Text	Pre-Construction, Mobilization, etc.
Estimated/Actual Dates	Date Range	When stage should start/end
Tasks Complete %	Calculation	Progress through stage tasks
Open Issues	Calculation	Count of incomplete tasks
Automation Status	Text	Tracks if tasks have been created

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Calculated Fields

Some fields compute themselves. You don't fill them in—Podio figures them out.

Field	Where	What It Calculates
Job ID	Projects	Combines Job # + Job Name
Variance	Projects	Project Budget minus costs
Overall Progress	Projects	Average of stage completion %
Open Tasks Count	Projects	Counts incomplete linked tasks
Tasks Complete %	Stages	Percentage of complete tasks
Open Issues	Stages	Count of incomplete tasks

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Category Options Reference

Current Stage Status (Projects)

• Pre-Construction Active
• Mobilization Active
• Construction Active
• Demobilization Active
• Retainage Active

Task Status

• Pending (red)
• In Progress (yellow)
• Complete (green)

Division

• Concrete
• Drywall
• Other

Scopes

• Earthwork
• Utilities
• Foundations
• [NEEDS VERIFICATION: Full list of scope options]

Task Type

• Task
• Recurring
• Subtask

Ind or Dep (Tasks)

• Independent
• Dependent

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Tips for Data Entry

1. Required fields — Some fields must be filled before saving. Podio will tell you which ones.

2. User fields — Start typing a name and Podio will suggest matches from your team.

3. Relationship fields — These pull from another app. The item must already exist there.

4. Multi-select categories — You can pick more than one. Great for Scopes where a project might have Earthwork AND Utilities.

5. Don't touch calculations — They update automatically. You can't (and shouldn't) edit them directly.

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Related Docs:

• Apps and Items — The containers that hold fields
• Our Apps Explained — Field usage in context
• Views and Filters — Finding items based on field values