---
title: Engagements and Their Stages
description: "An engagement is one piece of work for one client. Its stage says where the work has got to, and every change of stage is recorded. ## Creating one On **Casework → Engagements**, use **New engagement**: choose the client, give…"
url: "https://www.ancestorpress.com/docs/cw-engagements-and-stages/"
updated: "2026-10-05"
category: AncestorPress Casework Manager
---

# Engagements and Their Stages

An engagement is one piece of work for one client. Its stage says where the work has got to, and every change of stage is recorded.

## Creating one

On **Casework → Engagements**, use **New engagement**: choose the client, give it a title (for example "Gray line, Yorkshire, pre-1837") and the research question if you have it. It starts at **Enquiry**.

## The stages in the free edition

- **Enquiry** - the first contact. It can move to Scoping, or be closed if it comes to nothing.
- **Scoping** - you know what the client wants. Sending the intake form moves an engagement here automatically. In the free edition it can then only be closed: the plan, quote and agreement that follow are Pro.
- **Closed** - nothing further happens. Closing starts the retention period set in Settings.

## Moving an engagement on

On the engagement's **Overview** tab, under **Move this engagement on**, choose the next stage, add a note for your records if you like, and press **Update status**. Only the moves that make sense from the current stage are offered.

The **History** below records every change: when, from which stage to which, who made it - you, "Automatically" for the plugin's own moves, or "Client page" - and the note.

## The full journey (Pro)

With Pro, Scoping leads on to **Agreed** (once the client has accepted the plan), **Research in progress**, and from there **On hold**, **Scope change pending**, **Interim review** or **Final review**; Final review leads to **Delivered**, which can lead to **Follow-on proposed** or be closed. Final review can also go back to Research in progress when the work needs revising.

Some moves wait for something first:

- Into **Agreed**: the client has accepted the current version of the plan.
- From **Agreed** to **Research in progress**: the retainer is recorded as paid, unless you have switched that check off.
- From **Scope change pending** back to work: the client has accepted the change.
- From **Final review** to **Delivered**: the client has signed off the work - on by default.
- From **Interim review** back to work: the client has signed off the interim work - only if you switch that on.

If you hold the client's agreement some other way, tick **I hold the client's agreement outside this plugin - skip the sign-off and payment checks** on the status form. The move is then recorded in the history as an override.

## Closing work that stops part-way

With Pro, an engagement can be closed at any stage - a client cancels, or a line proves impossible to research. Closing before the work is delivered needs a note saying why; the note is kept in the history. Closing is what starts the retention period, and it is what allows the privacy tools to act for that client.