Rate Schedules

This article discusses the Rate Schedules tab in the Billing Setup Advanced tool. Users with access to the Billing Setup tool can create rate schedules, which determine hourly rates, time increments, and billing item templates.

Different projects may call for different rate schedules. In Billing Setup, you can add multiple rate schedules and set one rate schedule as the default. (This rate schedule can be overridden on the project level.) Existing rate schedules are listed in alphabetically.

Note

The Rates tab is used to grant or revoke users’ ability to view billing rates. To learn more, read the Rate-Viewing Permissions article.

• Add and Edit Rate Schedules
• Minimum Time Increment
• Expense and Flat Fee Templates
• Timekeepers

Add and Edit Rate Schedules

In order to generate invoices or apply hourly rates, at least one rate schedule must be created.

Go to the main menu and select Advanced > Billing Setup. Select the Rates section from the Billing Setup dropdown. Make sure you’re viewing the Rate Schedules tab.

This tab is grouped into two sections:

• Default Rate Schedule: view the currently-selected default rate schedule for your Org.
• Rate Schedules: search, view, and select from a list of existing rate schedules, or create a new one. Existing rate schedules display their minimum time increment, along with how many expense and flat fee templates they contain.

To edit an existing rate schedule, select it from the Rate Schedules table.

To add a new schedule, click + New Rate Schedule. In the Create Rate Schedule modal, enter a name for the new rate schedule. Create Save.

Tip

Use the “Create schedule based off of existing” dropdown to duplicate an existing rate schedule. That way, you can simply make the desired changes to the new schedule without starting from scratch.

Set Up Rate Schedule

Once you create a new rate schedule—or select an existing rate schedule to edit—you are taken to a dedicated page to configure that schedule. Here, you can set up the minimum time increment, expense and flat fee templates, and team member rates.

To rename a rate schedule, click Rename in the upper right corner. In the Rename Rate Schedule modal, enter the desired name and click Save.

To duplicate or delete a rate schedule, click Options in the upper right corner, and then select either Duplicate or Delete.

When you’re finished, click All Rate Schedules in the top left corner to return to the main Rate Schedules tab.

Default Rate Schedule

Although rate schedules can be chosen on a project-by-project basis, one rate schedule can be marked as the Org default. Newly created projects are automatically assigned to the default rate schedule.

Be careful when setting and changing default rate schedules. Changing the default rate schedule in Billing Setup will cascade that change to any projects using the previous Org Default and any un-billed, non-custom line items will have the new default rate applied as the rate.

To set a rate schedule as the Org default, expand the “Default Rate Schedule” dropdown menu and select the desired schedule.

Project Admins can override the default schedule at the project level if desired.

Minimum Time Increment

When you add or edit a rate schedule, you can select a minimum time increment for time entries. Projects using that rate schedule will automatically round up their time entries to the next minimum time increment. All time entries on invoices will display the time adjusted for minimum time increments—though the original time entry duration can be accessed through a report.

For example, if Project A uses 0.1 as the minimum time increment, then a time entry of 8:00 minutes (about 0.13 hours) will appear on the invoice rounded up to 0.2 hours.

Heads Up!

Changing the minimum time increment for a rate schedule will update all existing entries in that schedule, unless the entry is on a finalized invoice.

To set or change the minimum time increment, expand the “Minimum Time Increment” dropdown and choose between None, 0.1 hour (6-minute), or 0.25 hour (15-minute) increments.

Expense and Flat Fee Templates

When you add or edit a rate schedule, you can set up reusable templates for expense items and flat fee items. In a project, selecting these templates for an item will populate the default description, price, unit, and billing codes for that item.

Create Expense Templates

1. Add an expense template. Above the Expenses table, click + Expense Template.
2. Fill out the template details. In the Add Flat Fee Template flyout, enter the name and price. Whatever you enter for the Flat Fee Name will also populate in the description field when the template is used. If your Org uses billing codes, you can select which codes to populate.
   
    
3. Save. When all desired fields are completed, click Save.

The expense template will appear in the Expenses table.

Create Flat Fee Templates

1. Add a flat fee template. Above the Flat Fees table, click + Flat Fee Template.
2. Fill out the template details. In the Add Flat Fee Template flyout, enter a description (the Flat Fee Name) and price per unit. The quantity will default to 1 when using a flat fee template in a project. If your Org uses billing codes, you can select which codes to populate.
   
    
3. Save. When all desired fields are completed, click Save.

The flat fee template will appear in the Flat Fees table.

Timekeepers

When you add or edit a rate schedule, you can set hourly rates, timekeeper IDs, and timekeeper classifications for each team member for that rate schedule. The hourly rates are used as default rates for that team member. The timekeeper ID and classification can be used for additional record keeping and for LEDES compliance.

Hourly Rates

Set up hourly rates for as many team members as desired. In a project, selecting a member for a time entry will populate their hourly rate from whichever rate schedule the project is using. Users with rate permissions can view and edit the hourly rate if desired when entering time.

Heads Up!

Changing the default hourly rate for a team member will cascade to the un-invoiced time entries for that team member, so be careful when changing hourly rates for a rate schedule that is already being used for projects.

Entering Hourly Rates

1. Select the team member. The Timekeepers table displays a list of all team members from your Org. Search for the desired member, or find them in the list, and then select them. If you cannot find the member you are looking for, make sure they have been added as an Org-level user.
    
2. Choose the rate. In the Edit Timekeeper flyout, enter the team member’s hourly rate in the “Rate” field.
   
3. Save. When all desired fields are completed, click Save.

The team member’s rate will appear in the Rates column of the Timekeepers table.

Timekeeper ID and Classification

If you are creating LEDES 1998B compliant bills, you must set the timekeeper ID and classification for any team members whose time will be billed. These fields can be filled out along with the team members’ hourly rates.

1. Select the team member. In the Timekeepers table, search for and select the desired team member.
2. Enter the Timekeeper ID and Classification. In the Edit Timekeeper flyout, enter the Timekeeper ID and select a Classification from the dropdown. Learn more about LEDES timekeeper classifications.
   
3. Save. When all desired fields are completed, click Save.

The team member’s Timekeeper ID and Classification will appear in their respective columns in the Timekeepers table.