Custom Billing Rates

You can define an unlimited number of "custom rates" for each project in the system, and you can copy those rates from Project to Project as required.

Custom rates can be setup for any combination of staff member, labor code and budget item using the "custom rates" edit pane in the dashboard's Contract... Billing Rates page. Just fill in the custom rate you'd like to add to the project in the blank line at the end of the list.

• Leave the selection blank if you don't need to setup a specific filter. For example, to setup a custom rate for any time "Joe Smith" bills against the project, fill in Joe Smith's name in the Staff Member column, but leave Labor Code and Budget Item blank.

• Check off rates and click DELETE to remove them. You can delete custom rates you've already entered this way.
• The Rate field can be edited on the fly. So, you can update the custom rates you define without having to delete and re-create them.
• Click the "copy rates" link to copy custom rates from project to project. The "copy rates" link is at the bottom of the edit pane.
• Mix and Match Standard Rates with Dollar Values. You can enter a specific rate (like the one shown here), or you can click the down arrow next to the rate field to pick one of your standard rate cards (e.g. - you could tell the system that Jake should use the Activity Rate A).

Custom Rate Priority

Occasionally, you will have custom rates that overlap. You might, for example, have a rate of $95.00/hour for Joe Smith, but a rate of $225.00/hour for "architectural design." So, what rate will be applied to work Joe Smith does in the category "architectural design?"

As a general rule, when custom rates overlap, the more specific your custom rate is, the higher its likelihood of being applied. If you have a $95/hour rate for Joe Smith and a $125/hour rate for Joe Smith AND "architectural design," then the latter rate will take priority. In addition, a custom rate always takes priority over a base rate.

While that's a good rule-of-thumb. The system does apply custom rates in a specific order (listed in descending priority):

1. Custom Rate: by Staff, Budget Item and Labor Code.
2. Custom Rate: by Staff and Budget Item.
3. Custom Rate: by Labor Code and Budget Item.
4. Custom Rate: by Labor Code and Staff.
5. Custom Rate: by Budget Item only.
6. Custom Rate: by Staff only.
7. Custom Rate: by Labor Code only.
8. Base (non custom) rate.

So, in the example shown at the start of this topic, Joe's time on Architectural Design would be billed at $95.00/hour (since a "staff only" custom rate has a higher priority than a "labor code only" custom rate). To insure that Joe's architecture time is billed out at $225.00/hour, add a third custom rate that is $225 for both "Joe Smith" and "Architectural Design."