Missing Estimates, Blank Formulas, and a Proposal to Merge Every Client Into One List

Both symptoms come from the same family of cause: a setting that exists at more than one level of the hierarchy.

Time Estimates missing. Time Estimates, like Custom Fields, is a ClickApp that is toggled at Space, Folder and List level, and the effective state is what applies at the location where the task lives. Check, in order:

1. Is the ClickApp on for the Space but off on the parent Folder or the List itself?
2. Were the three Lists created from a template that predates the field, so they were born without it?
3. Even where the field exists at the location, it must be added to the List's visible fields. A field that exists but has not been added to that List will not appear on tasks.

Dependencies not blocking. Three distinct causes to separate:

1. The ClickApp is off at the level of that specific List, so the dependency relation exists but nothing enforces it.
2. The relationship is configured the wrong way round - the task is "blocking" rather than "waiting on".
3. Enforcement is a setting, and a status only counts as closed if it is marked as a closed-type status in the Space's status configuration. A custom status called "Done" that is not classified as closed will not gate anything.

Fix by testing each on one List with a two-task chain before rolling out.

Blank formulas. A formula evaluates per task, from fields that must actually be present on that task. A whole Folder showing blank suggests a structural problem, not a data problem:

• The formula references a field (for example "Rate card") that was never added to the Lists inside that Folder, so every task has an empty input.
• Or the formula divides by Time Estimate, and the estimate is empty or zero, so the calculation is undefined.
• Or the field name changed and the formula still points at the old reference.

Test by adding the formula to one task in the Folder and inspecting each input field individually. The blank will localise to a single missing input.

Doubled burn with two assignees. Time tracking records entries per person. Two assignees both logging time on the same task is legitimate - they both did billable work - so summing both people's time is correct. The figure only looks doubled if the formula multiplies the estimate or the rate by the number of assignees, which double-counts a headcount that has nothing to do with the money.

The structural answer: decide who is accountable for the task (one assignee) and who is collaborating (watchers or a relationship). Then compute burn purely from tracked time × rate × estimate, never from assignee count.

Refuse the mechanism, honour the intent - "the fields always exist" - and give them a solution that actually delivers it.

Why one List fails:

• One List means one status set for every engagement. Design phases, retainer support and internal admin work do not share a status vocabulary, and forcing them together recreates the problem you just fixed at the Space level.
• Every client's work becomes visible to anyone with access to that List. You lose the per-engagement permission boundary, which matters when clients or contractors are involved.
• Hundreds of tasks in one List make Board and Calendar views slow and make filtering a daily chore.

What delivers the intent instead:

1. Create one "Client engagement" template that always includes Time Estimates, Rate card, Budget burn and Dependencies. New work is then correct at birth.
2. Audit ClickApp state at the Space level so toggles are on before a Folder is created, not fixed afterwards.
3. Add a short pre-flight checklist for new engagements: fields added, formula verified on one task, dependency chain tested.
4. Report across clients with a Dashboard and filtered views, which cross Folders without merging them.

Field consistency is a template and governance problem. Merging Lists is a workaround that trades one visible bug for three invisible ones.