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A lightweight tracker, and the agency version

Not every team needs an enterprise build. Some need a spreadsheet that stops breaking. Some need to run forty clients from one front door.

In plain terms

The small version is two or three tables replacing a spreadsheet calendar, with the real work still in Workfront. The agency version adds clients: they submit through a public form, and every hour of work counts against their retainer.

The lightweight tracker

For a single team replacing a spreadsheet calendar: Campaigns and Deliverables, plus one or two taxonomies such as Brands and Channels, and one request form. Connect Campaigns to Workfront projects and let Workfront Workflow carry the task detail.

Then keep it light. The operating rhythm is short: triage intake, update statuses, keep the calendar honest. No bureaucracy — a tracker that needs a process document has stopped being lightweight. Hand people the calendar view.

The agency version

An agency — or an in-house agency serving internal clients — needs the same small shape plus clients. It adds Clients and Engagements record types, an SLA stage on Deliverables, and a public front door.

Agency intake, from client request to retainer drawdownA client with no Workfront account submits a publicly shared request form made of plain typed fields. It creates a request record with status New. An automation connects the record to the Client record and creates the Workfront project, where hours are logged. The client's Engagement record holds the retainer, and hours used flow back to it — for example 22 of 40. Clients see their status through a shared Workfront dashboard, a scheduled report, or a thin custom surface on the Planning API; Planning views are not a client portal.Clientno Workfront accountPublic request formplain typed fields onlyRequest recordstatus: NewAutomationconnects the ClientWorkfront projecthours logged hereClient recordthe Clients record typeEngagementretainer: 40 hourshours used flow back: 22 of 40Client visibilitydashboard, report, APIPlanning views as a portalthey are not oneSLA stages on Deliverables: Brief received · First concept · Revisions · Final · Delivered
Figure 1. Agency intake and drawdown. Blue is Planning, gold is Workfront Workflow, grey is outside both — here, the client.
Agency intake

Press Play, or select any box in the diagram, to follow a client request one step at a time.

One workspace, or one per client — decide first. Strict confidentiality or competing brands can justify a workspace per client. Otherwise use one workspace with a Client connection. Make the call before you build anything: record types cannot be moved between workspaces later.

Agency structure checklist

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Keep Workfront object connections off the public form. A form containing a connection to a Workfront object cannot be shared publicly. Collect the client name as plain text and let the automation make the connection afterward.

What clients can see

For client-facing visibility beyond the form, there are three options: a Workfront dashboard shared with an External user license, a scheduled report sent out, or a thin custom surface built on the Planning API. Planning views themselves are not a client portal.

The weekly portfolio check

For the account lead: drawdown per client against the retainer, clients at risk of overage, the spread of work across SLA stages, and upcoming client reviews. Hand off the calendar view, or the per-client view.

# Client portfolio — 5 active

  Client A   22 / 40 retained hours — on pace
  Client B   38 / 40 — overage risk this period
  Client C   12 / 60 — under-used, worth a proactive call
  Client D   project-based, 3 active, 1 at delivery
  Client E   onboarding, no hours yet

SLA stages across active work
  Brief received 4 · First concept 6 · Revisions 3 · Final 11 · Delivered 8

With AI in the loop

A per-client status narrative can be drafted from hours used, active projects, deliverables completed, and blockers. The account lead edits it before sending.

Don’t do this

Enterprise scaffolding for one team

A small team replacing a spreadsheet needs two or three record types. Adding one later is easy; splitting one that grew two meanings is not.

Planning views as a client portal

They are not one. Use a shared dashboard, a scheduled report, or a thin API surface.

Hours typed against the retainer

Drawdown must come from Workfront timesheets. A typed number turns every invoice into a negotiation.

Deciding workspaces later

One workspace per client, or one for all, is a day-one decision. Record types cannot be moved.

Limits worth knowing here

Published Planning limits that affect this build. Adobe revises these, so confirm before you design around one.
WhatLimitWhy it matters for agencies
Sharing a Planning object100 entitiesUsers, roles, teams, companies, and groups combined. Share by company or team, not person by person.
Bulk-sharing records100 at onceOnboarding a large client’s history takes several passes.
Records per workspaceSelect 25,000 · Prime 500,000 · Ultimate 1,000,000One workspace for 40 clients fills faster than you expect on Select.
External accessExternal user licenseRequired for clients to see a shared Workfront dashboard.

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