Rate Cards Overview

Overview

With rate cards, you can standardize and assign billing rates across multiple currencies based on Account Roles (e.g., Designer, Project Manager, Engineer, Consultant). Once you've published your Account Rate Card, it will apply to all financial projects by default, meaning that you no longer need to set individual Bill Rates for Members. Instead, the rates billed will be determined by the member's role on the project. However, individual currency Cost Rates will still need to be set in the Financial section of the Account Members Details side panel.

A benefit of Rate Cards is having more control around billing roles and rates. Adding a rate to a Role on a Rate Card means you can use that role on a project, and not accidentally bill for a role that should not be on the project. If you've already been using rate cards, the default rate acts as a backup in case a user without a designated role and rate on the card is part of the project. These users will be highlighted in Project Settings > Rates & Roles with a red box around their role.

Another benefit of Rates Cards is their ability to scale and meet your business needs. Whether you offer new clients a discount on their first project, adjust your rates on the first of the year, or start a new business line, you can create custom rate cards accordingly.

Rate Cards also integrate with other Kantata features, including:

• Projects—Although the Account Rate Card is applied automatically by default, you can select a more appropriate Rate Card for each project.
• Estimates—Makes it easy to model margins and compare staff options across scenarios.
• Project Templates—When you create a Project from a Template, the Account Default Rate is automatically applied. Just like with projects, you can change it to a Rate Card more appropriate for the project.
• Resource Center—Better predict your project revenue and labor costs.
• Time & Expense—The ability to select the specified role in the Time & Expenses tab of a project, the Time Entry form, and the Timer.

How Roles Work with Rate Cards

Since rate cards replace individual member Bill Rates, you first want to set up Account Roles. Even if you use a default or standard rate, we still suggest you set up Roles, and simply put the same rate for all. This way, if things change, you can quickly make updates.

Alternatively, you can go to Settings > General, scroll to Resource Scheduling, and disable "Only make roles on the rate card available to projects" so all roles are available.

If you do need to differentiate rates based on roles — like when your senior designers bill out at a higher rate than your junior designers — or some projects need the involvement of someone at the director-level, then you want to create roles. To do so, simply go to Settings > Roles, and add all the Roles you need.

Now, prior to publishing Rate Cards, you can edit and remove a particular Role.

When creating custom Rate Cards, you can add Roles to your Rate Cards and easily use them and identify a specific Bill Rate.

After you start using Rate Cards, you can still return to Settings > Roles to add new ones as needed. Note that any new Roles can be added to a new version or clone of a Rate Card, and will be available when the new version or clone is published.

If you need to delete a Role from a card, you can do so as long as the Role isn't in use on any Project or Estimate that is using the card.

The Rate Cards Page

The main Rate Cards page contains a list of all of your Rate Cards as well as the currencies and project groups associated with the Rate Card.

In the toolbar, you can access the following options:

• Filters—Filter the rate cards by Rate Card Name, Currency, or Project Groups.
• Configure Columns (“   ”)—Allows you to adjust which columns are displayed on the page and in what order.
• New Card—Creates a new Rate Card so you can set a different default rate, Effective Date, and add currencies and roles necessary for Estimates and Projects that will use the card.

The table displays the following information and options:

• Rate Card Name—Column listing all of your cards.
• Details (“   ”)—Opens the Details side panel, where you can assign a project group to the rate card, or Delete the rate card by clicking the More icon and then selecting Delete Rate Card.
  Note: You cannot delete your Account Rate Card or any Rate Card that’s currently in use.
• Currency—Displays all currencies added to the card, in alphabetical order. When you first go to Settings > Rate Cards, only your account's Default Currency is listed.
• Project Groups—Displays the current project group(s) that are assigned to the rate card. 

Before enabling Rate Cards, considering taking a look at your Margin Report to see your project revenue and labor costs. Projects with the best margins may be the best blueprint for defining your Account Rate Card. Now, to get started using Rate Cards, go to Settings > Rate Cards and setup your Account Rate Card.

The Account Rate Card

The Account Rate Card acts as the default, and replaces the Bill Rate on all existing projects, and for any new project that uses the rates specified on it.

When you first enable Rate Cards and go to Settings > Rate Cards, you’ll be asked to configure the Account Rate Card.

• Title—Your initial Account Rate Card title cannot be changed. To change the title, you need to clone the card.
• Effective Date—Date on which the card is to be active, or in use.
• Publish—Activates your default Account Rate Card, which then replaces the bill rate across Projects and makes it possible to create custom rate cards.
• Add Currency—Lets you add any currencies you use, which can be added to any custom Rate Cards you create. Remember that you need to calculate the conversion and manually enter it.
• Add Role—Add any Roles from the Account Roles you created in Settings > Roles.
• Clone Rate Card—Creates a copy of the selected version of the card with a new draft so you don’t have to create one from scratch. You can rename it, add or remove roles and currencies, change the effective date, and create new versions. Note that changes made to a cloned card do not apply to any Projects that are using the Account Rate Card.
• Versions—A list, sorted by Effective Date, that displays which cards are a draft, are current, upcoming, and have already been used.
• New Version—Creates a copy of the card so you can make changes that will apply to the project or projects when the version becomes current, based on the Effective Date. This is useful if, for example, you raise your default rates on a specific day each month or year. Creating a new version with the updated default rate and new Effective Date means you don’t have to create a whole new card.
• Default Rate—Lets you bill clients for time tracked on projects that have roles without rates on the Rate Card. You can set it to $0.00 to make it clear the rate is incorrect.

How to Enable Your Account Rate Card

1. Go to Settings > Rate Cards.
2. Select the Account Rate Card.
   
3. By default, the Effective Date is the current date. You can select any date in the future you want it to take effect.
   
4. Use the Add Currency button to add any currencies you use. Any currency on your Account Rate Card can also be used on any Custom Rate Card. Note that as you add currencies, they disappear from the list so it's easier to keep track of what currencies have been added.
   
5. Enter a Default Rate for all currencies. Remember to calculate the currency conversion and enter it manually. The default rate acts is as a backup so if a user is put onto a project without a designated billing role from the rate card, it will still apply a rate. These users will be highlighted in the Project > Rates & Roles page with a red box around their role.
6. If you want to set specific rates by Role on the Account Rate Card, use the Add Role button to add them and then assign individual rates across currencies.
   
7. When ready, click Publish. Your Account Rate Card activates and Bill Rates have been replaced with the rates on the card. If necessary, you can now create custom rate cards.