Freelancer Project Management Hub

Freelancer Project Management Hub is a monolithic SaaS-style application for freelancers and small service teams to manage clients, projects, quotes, invoices, approvals, and payments from a single Laravel + Inertia.js + React codebase.

This system reduces the overhead of managing freelance work by unifying client, project, quoting, invoicing, and approval workflows into one platform. It replaces fragmented spreadsheets, manual follow-ups, and disconnected billing processes with a single operational workspace.

It provides a server-driven frontend using Inertia, secure invoice approval via email tokens, PDF invoice generation, branding controls, a public landing page, and an internal dashboard for operational visibility.

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Screenshots

Add project screenshots here

• Landing page
• Dashboard
• Client management
• Project management
• Quote workspace
• Invoice list and approval flow
• Settings / branding

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Features

Client and Project Management

• Create, edit, and delete clients
• Create, edit, and delete projects
• Track project status:
  • quoting
  • in_progress
  • completed
  • on_hold
• Link every project to a client

Quote System

• Create quote items per project
• Track:
  • item name
  • hours
  • hourly rate
• Calculate line subtotals and total quote amount
• Protect quote changes after invoicing to preserve invoice integrity

Invoice System

• Generate invoices from project quote items
• Store invoice amount as a snapshot at creation time
• Use invoice lifecycle states:
  • draft
  • sent
  • approved
  • paid
• Generate collision-safe invoice numbers by year
• Mark invoices as paid only after approval

Email and Approval Workflow

• Send invoice emails to clients
• Include secure approval link with token-based access
• Support public approval route without exposing internal IDs
• Attach PDF invoice to outgoing email

PDF and Branding

• Generate server-side PDF invoices using barryvdh/laravel-dompdf
• Upload custom logo
• Configure application name
• Select invoice currency:
  • USD
  • KRW
• Apply branding to invoice PDFs

Dashboard and Public Pages

• Public landing page at /
• Internal dashboard at /dashboard
• Dashboard KPIs:
  • total clients
  • active projects
  • monthly revenue
  • unpaid invoice total
• Recent projects and unpaid invoice lists

Theme System

• Light mode
• Dark mode
• Dim mode
• Theme persisted in localStorage
• Shared across landing page and internal app

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Tech Stack

• Laravel 12.x
• Inertia.js
• React 19
• Tailwind CSS
• MariaDB
• Vite
• barryvdh/laravel-dompdf

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Architecture Overview

This project uses a monolithic Laravel architecture with Inertia.js for server-driven frontend rendering.

• No separate REST API layer
• Backend controllers return Inertia pages directly
• React pages live inside the Laravel application
• Eloquent handles core domain relationships

Relationship Flow

• Client → Projects
• Project → Quotes
• Quote → QuoteItems
• Project → Invoices

Key Characteristics

• Laravel handles routing, validation, database access, email, and PDF generation
• Inertia bridges Laravel responses to React pages
• React handles UI interaction and form state
• Financial calculations are enforced on the backend for integrity

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Installation

1. Clone repository

git clone
cd Freelancer-Project-Management-Hub

2. Install backend dependencies

composer install

3. Install frontend dependencies

npm install

4. Configure environment

cp .env.example .env

Update .env:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_USERNAME=your_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=your_smtp_host
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=your_smtp_user
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_smtp_password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=no-reply@example.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

5. Generate application key

php artisan key:generate

6. Run migrations

php artisan migrate

7. Create storage symlink

php artisan storage:link

8. Start frontend dev server

npm run dev

9. Start Laravel server

php artisan serve

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Usage Flow

1. Create a client
2. Create a project
3. Add quote items
4. Generate invoice
5. Send invoice email
6. Client approves via secure link
7. Mark invoice as paid

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Environment Variables

Key	Description
APP_NAME	Application name
APP_URL	Base URL
DB_*	Database config
MAIL_*	SMTP config
FILESYSTEM_DISK	Storage disk

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Folder Structure

app/
Http/Controllers/
Mail/
Models/

database/
migrations/

resources/
js/Pages/
views/emails/
views/pdf/

routes/
web.php

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Future Improvements

• Multi-user support (roles & permissions)
• Payment gateway integration
• Public invoice view page
• Advanced analytics

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License

MIT