How to duplicate/template a nested portfolio structure for new client projects without shared references?

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1

Hi everyone,

Our engineering workflows rely heavily on a multi-level hierarchical folder structure (similar to traditional directory systems) to manage complex construction/design projects.

Our required hierarchy for every new project is structured like this:

  1. Root Portfolio: Project Code & Name

  2. Sub-Portfolio (Level 1): Project Phases / Stages

  3. Sub-Portfolio (Level 2): Disciplines / Departments (e.g., Mechanical, Electrical)

  4. Projects: Specific functional tracking lists (with sections, floor-level custom fields, and task dependencies)

While we can easily save individual Projects as Templates, manually recreating this multi-level nested portfolio tree from scratch for every single new project creates a massive operational overhead.

When attempting to Duplicate a master template portfolio:

  • The sub-portfolios inside are added as references/links rather than independent cloned instances.

  • Renaming or modifying a sub-portfolio in the duplicated project directly affects and alters the master template portfolio.

My questions to the community:

  1. Is there a native workflow or best practice to template or deep-clone an entire multi-level portfolio structure (including its sub-portfolios and projects) without linking back to the original?

  2. If this is a platform limitation, how are other architecture/engineering firms handling nested project setups efficiently via the Asana UI?

Thanks in advance for your insights and recommendations!

2

Hi @zeynep_sıla_kaymak , welcome to the community!

At the moment, there isn’t a native feature that supports a true deep-clone workflow for duplicating an entire multi-level portfolio tree, including all nested portfolios and projects, as completely independent copies.

The safest native approach would be to create a new root portfolio structure that you will duplicate in the future, add empty portfolios at each level, and then populate them with projects generated from your project templates.

If a repeatable deep-clone workflow is important for your use case, this would also make valuable Product Feedback for others to upvote, so please post here: [ Product Feedback - Asana Forum ]

Thank you!

3

Hi @zeynep_sıla_kaymak , this is natively possible using script actions in Rules, exclusively on the Enterprise plan. We have done so for numerous customers we support. :slight_smile:

5

Thanks @Richard_Sather , that’s very helpful. The portfolio cloning itself is not our main concern anymore, as we can create the portfolio structure manually before a project starts.

We are currently considering the Asana Advanced plan, and we are trying to understand whether it will cover our requirements. In particular, progress tracking and percentage roll-ups are very important for us.

Our structure is:

Customer Portfolio → LP Portfolio → Discipline Portfolio (HZG/SAN/RLT) → Projects → Tasks

1. Portfolio progress roll-up:
We would like completion from the underlying projects/tasks to be reflected as an overall progress percentage at the Discipline → LP → Customer Portfolio levels.

Is there a native way to achieve this on the Advanced plan? If not, would this specifically require Enterprise features such as Script Actions, or is there another approach?

2. Goal progress roll-up:
In Strategy Map, we would also like to use:

Customer Goal → LP Sub-goal → Discipline Sub-goal

We want progress from the actual projects/tasks to automatically update the Discipline Goal, and then roll up to the LP and Customer Goal.

Is this possible on Advanced? If not, is this something that can only be achieved with Enterprise/Script Actions?

3. Strategy Map view:
As we will eventually have many customers and projects, is it possible to filter or scope the Strategy Map so that we can view one customer’s Goal hierarchy independently, instead of seeing all company Goals in the same map?

The first two points — automatic progress percentages and roll-ups — are the most important requirements for us.

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Quick update: We have now confirmed that the Goal progress roll-up in point 2 works natively on Advanced, so that part is resolved.
Our remaining questions are mainly portfolio-level percentage roll-ups (point 1) and scoping/filtering the Strategy Map by customer (point 3). Any guidance on these two would be greatly appreciated.

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Hi @zeynep_sıla_kaymak , we normally require a discovery call to answer such questions so we can better understand your requirements and what you want to achieve. In case it’s not clear, we are Asana Solution Partners that help organisations make the most out of Asana. :slight_smile:

If you are interested in setting up a call with us, feel free to DM me by clicking on my profile photo.
Thanks!