Billable rate groups let you manage labor rates in one place and apply them to any job, so billable time is priced automatically. Assign rates to people by name or by job title, set rate types and a rate condition, and create custom groups for negotiated pricing.
1. Viewing and assigning job titles
Job titles let you bill everyone with the same title at the same rate, instead of adding each person to a billable rate by hand.
To view job titles:
Go to People.
Open the Employees tab. The Job title column shows each employee's job title.
To assign a job title to an employee:
Find the employee in the Employees list.
Add or update their Job title (for example, Superintendent).
Click Save.
2. Opening billable rate groups
To open billable rate groups:
Go to Time sheets and click Manage rate groups.
Or go to Settings and open rate groups from the Time sheets section.
Open a rate group to add rates, people, job titles, rate types, and a rate condition.
3. Adding people and job titles to billable rates
Each billable rate can include individual people, job titles, or both.
To bill a job title at a rate:
Open the billable rate group.
Add the job title to the billable rate (for example, add Superintendent to the Foreman rate).
Click Save.
Everyone with that job title, including anyone given the title later, is billed at that rate.
Important: A person added to a rate by name always takes priority over their job title. For example, a Journeyman Electrician is normally billed at $95, but if that person is added by name to the Foreman rate, they are billed at $110.
Note: Within a billable rate group, each person and each job title can only be on one rate.
4. Setting rate types
Rate types define how each billable rate is charged. Manage rate types on the default rate group; custom groups inherit them.
Each rate type can be set in one of two ways:
Multiplier: Calculates the price from the Standard amount.
Set price: Leave the multiplier empty and enter a set price on each rate.
For example, if the Apprentice Electrician standard rate is $70, Overtime and Double time can be calculated from that $70 standard amount, while Holiday uses a set price.
5. Setting a rate condition
A rate condition changes the price based on the work being performed. Set it on the default rate group; custom groups inherit it.
You can choose one condition: cost code or cost type.
For example, electricians billed at $95 standard can be billed at $110 on a Service call cost code.
6. Managing default and custom rate groups
Billable rate groups come in two kinds:
Default rate group: Your standard price list. Rate types and the rate condition are managed here.
Custom groups: Used for negotiated pricing. A custom group starts from the default group. Change only the rates that differ, and those changes appear as overrides.
For example, a custom group can override the Electrician standard rate to $105 while the default group stays at $95.
How updates to the default group work:
Custom groups stay in step with the default group. When you change a price in the default group, the change carries down to all custom groups that have not overridden that rate. For example, raising Apprentice Electrician from $70 to $80 in the default group updates it to $80 in every custom group without an override.
Overrides in custom groups are always respected. When you change a default price that a custom group has overridden, the custom group keeps its override amount.
Important: Only rates without overrides update when the default group changes. You can Revert to default on a custom group rate to clear an override.
7. Applying a rate group to a job
To apply a billable rate group to a job:
Open the job.
Go to the Time activity billable rate section.
Select Rates by rate group.
Choose the billable rate group for the job (for example, the default rate group).
You can also assign jobs from the rate group itself. A job uses one rate group at a time.
Billable time on that job is priced from the selected group when the time activity has an employee who maps to a rate (by name or job title) and a rate type.
8. Reviewing and adjusting rates on time sheets
On a time sheet, each billable time activity shows the rate applied from the job's rate group. Open the billable rate details to see the rate group, rate type, and matching conditions.
To override a rate for a one-off situation:
Open the time activity on the time sheet.
Click Disconnect from rate group. The rate field becomes editable.
Enter the correct rate.
Click Save. The total price updates.
To restore rate group pricing:
Click Reconnect to rate group.
Click Save. The rate and total price update automatically.
9. How rates appear on draws
When you add billable time to a draw, each labor line uses the rate resolved on the time activity from the job's billable rate group. For example, a foreman working a holiday is billed at the group's Foreman Holiday rate.
While a draw is in draft, labor lines follow the current rates in the group. If you change a rate in the group, draft draws update. Once a draw leaves draft, its labor prices are locked and will not change.
Key requirements
Assign job titles in People > Employees to bill by title.
Each person and each job title can only be on one rate within a billable rate group.
A person added by name always takes priority over their job title.
Manage rate types and the rate condition on the default rate group; custom groups inherit them.
A rate condition is either cost code or cost type, not both.
Default group price changes carry down to custom groups, except where a custom group has an override.
Select Rates by rate group on a job for its billable time to be priced from a rate group.
Disconnect a time activity from the rate group to edit its rate; reconnect to restore group pricing.
Draft draws follow current group rates; once a draw leaves draft, its labor prices stay locked.
Related: Labor Tracking