Rate cards by person, role and project
Set what an hour of each person or role is billed at, in a currency, on a rate card you reuse across projects. A project can carry its own rate for a person, and every billing run prices the hours from these rates.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- Bill rates live in one person's spreadsheet, and invoices use last year's numbers.
- The same consultant is billed at different rates on two invoices for one client.
- A client negotiated a special rate for one senior person, and someone forgets it on the invoice.
- A client in another country is billed in dollars, and someone converts the rates by hand.
How it works
- Your administrator opens Projects > Configuration > Money > Rate Cards and adds a card, for example Standard 2026, in your currency.
- On the card, set a Default Rate an Hour for everyone. Then add lines on the Rates tab: a rate for a project role such as Reviewer, or for a named person.
- On a client project, open the Billing tab, choose Time and Materials or Retainer, and pick the rate card.
- Where a client agreed a different rate for someone, add that person under Rates for People on This Project.
- When a billing run collects approved hours, each person's hours are priced at their rate, one line per person and rate.
Everything it does
A rate card
- Name, Currency and Default Rate an Hour (for anyone with no line of their own or of their role)
- Rates tab: one line per Person or per Project Role, with its Rate an Hour; a line is for one or the other, not both
- Entity: one entity, or empty for every entity
- Notes, an order in the list, and Archive when a card is no longer used
- Search cards by a person on them; group by currency
- Every change is kept in the card's history
Which rate an hour gets
- First the project's own rate for that person (Rates for People on This Project)
- Then the card's line for that person
- Then the card's line for the person's role on the project's team
- Then the card's Default Rate an Hour
- A card in another currency is converted to the project's currency at the rate of the hour's date
Where rates are used
- Time and Materials projects: every approved billable hour
- Retainer projects: hours over the retainer, when the project has no Overage Rate an Hour
- Rates are read when a billing run collects; hours already on a run keep that run's rate
- Bill rates are separate from the cost per hour, which drives the project's cost and profit
Who uses it
Projects AdministratorMakes and changes rate cards and their lines.
Projects ManagerPicks a project's card, sets per-project rates, and sees the cards.
FinanceChecks the billing run, where each line shows the hours and the rate.
Where you use it
- Web: Projects > Configuration > Money > Rate Cards; the project's Billing tab
- Not in the phone app or on the client portal: clients see the invoice, not the card
What you control
Settings
- Currency of each card: the entity's currency to start with
- Default Rate an Hour per card: empty to start with
- Per project: the rate card and the rates for people
Approvals
- Rates have no approval of their own; the hours they price are approved in the Billing Run chain
Questions
What happens if someone has no rate?
With no project rate, no card line and no default on the card, the hours go on the run at a rate of 0. Check the run before you submit it, or set a default rate on every card.We raise rates every April. How do we do that?
Change the rates on the card, or make a new card such as Standard 2027 and pick it on the projects. Rates are read when a run collects, so hours not yet billed take the new rate.Can we bill one client in dollars and another in rupees?
Yes. Each project has its currency, and a card in another currency is converted to it by the hour's date. You can also keep a card per currency.Can rates differ by task or kind of work?
Not today. Rates are by person, by role on the project, or the card's default. A different rate for one task is not built.Who can see bill rates?
Projects Managers and Projects Administrators. Team members do not see rate cards or the Billing tab.Which plan has it?
Growth and Scale, with billing runs.Related features
MONEYBilling runs from approved hoursEach period, a billing run gathers what a project bills. That is approved hours at their rates, fixed-price instalments that are due, the retainer fee and overage, and expenses to pass on. Once approved, it becomes a draft invoice in accounting with the entity's GST or VAT.MONEYRetainers with hours included and overageBill a client a fixed fee each month or quarter that covers a number of hours. Hours above it are billed at an overage rate, and unused hours can roll over to the next period.TIMEWeekly timesheets with approvalEach person's time for the week sits on one sheet, sent on Friday. The project manager or your approval chain approves it as a whole. Approved hours become the project's cost and what you bill.MONEYProfitability per projectOne row per project with revenue, cost, margin and budget used, read from the project's budget ledger. Time is costed at each person's cost per hour, and filters show the projects losing money or over budget.PROJECTSPayment milestones with draft invoicesGive a project a payment plan, such as 30 / 40 / 30. Its milestones fall due by hand, on a date, at a stage or when a key event is done. The client is told, a draft invoice is made, and an unpaid milestone can hold the project in its stage.
See your next project on it.
Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.