Cost Rates represent your organization’s approximate hourly cost of staffing each person. They are used in cost and profitability reports, and are separate from what you bill clients. This article focuses on hourly Cost Rates—how to set them, how defaults work, and how to update existing time entries.
Summary: Set a company-wide Default Cost Rate for new people in Company > Preferences > Person Defaults, then update each person’s Cost Rate on their Person Details page. When needed, you can apply a new rate to existing unlocked time entries back to a chosen date. Cost Rates drive cost and profitability reports but are intended for estimation rather than payroll or tax calculations.
Availability: Hourly Cost Rates are available on all plans. Some advanced options (such as salaried cost per timesheet) may require a higher plan; see Cost Rates (Salaried): Adjust Salaried Costs for those details.
Where to find it: Company > Preferences > Person Defaults (Default Cost Rate for new people) and Company > People > Person Details (person-specific Cost Rate).
Jump to a section:
- How Cost Rates work
- Default Cost Rate (new people)
- Set or change a person’s Cost Rate
- Use the Cost Rate calculator
- Update Cost Rates for existing time entries
- Access & permissions
- Troubleshooting
How Cost Rates work
A person’s Cost Rate is an hourly amount that represents the approximate cost of having that person work for one hour. It is typically based on salary or wages plus overhead such as benefits, taxes, and office expenses.
- Cost Rates are stored on the Person Details page and copied onto each time entry when it is saved.
- Cost Rates are used in reports that show Total Cost or Profitability (for example, Profitability Summary, project cost reports, and Customizable Data Export).
- Cost Rates are separate from Billing Rates, which control how much you charge clients.
Think of it this way: Cost Rate answers “What does an hour of this person’s work cost us?” Billing Rate answers “What do we charge the client for that hour?”. Profitability reports compare the two.
Default Cost Rate (new people)
The Person Defaults section in Company Preferences lets you define a Default Cost Rate that is automatically applied when you add a new person.
- Go to Company > Preferences > Person Defaults.
- Enter a value in Default Cost Rate.
- Save your changes.
When you create a new person, this default is pre-filled in their Person Details page. You can accept it or override it per person.
Scope: Changing the Default Cost Rate in Person Defaults does not change existing people or historical time entries. It only affects people created after the change.
Set or change a person’s Cost Rate
Use the Person Details page to review and update a person’s Cost Rate.
Set the Cost Rate for a new person
- Go to Company > People and click + Add Person.
- In the Cost section, review the pre-filled Cost Rate (from Person Defaults).
- Optionally update the hourly Cost Rate for this person.
- Save the person.
All time entries this person creates will use their Cost Rate at the moment the entry is saved (unless you later apply a bulk update).
Change the Cost Rate for an existing person
- Go to Company > People and open the person’s Person Details page.
- Find the Cost section and click Edit.
- Update the Cost Rate value.
- Save your changes.
By default, this change is forward-looking: it applies to time entries saved after the change. If you also want to update existing time entries, use the option described in the next section.
Use the Cost Rate calculator
If you are not sure what hourly Cost Rate to use, ClickTime includes a calculator on the Person Details page to help you estimate it.
- From the person’s Cost section, click the option to calculate or estimate Cost Rate.
- Enter the person’s annual salary or expected wages.
- Enter their expected working hours (for example, 40 hours per week).
- Optionally add expected bonuses and an overhead percentage (benefits, taxes, facilities, etc.).
- Review the calculated hourly Cost Rate and apply it if appropriate.
Note: Because bonuses, overhead, and work hours can vary, the calculator provides an approximate hourly cost for planning and reporting. It is not intended to replace payroll or accounting systems.
Update Cost Rates for existing time entries
In some cases, you may need to apply a new Cost Rate to time entries that already exist in the system (for example, if a raise should take effect from a particular date). ClickTime supports this for time entries that belong to unlocked timesheets.
Apply a new Cost Rate to existing time
- Go to the person’s Person Details page and edit the Cost section.
- Enter the new Cost Rate.
- Check the option to apply the cost rate to all new and existing unlocked time as far back as… (or similar wording in your account).
- Select the earliest date the new rate should apply to.
- Click Update.
You will see a confirmation dialog describing how many entries may be affected and that the process can take some time. After you confirm, ClickTime updates the Cost Rate for all matching, unlocked time entries back to the date you selected.
Important: Only time entries that belong to unlocked / unapproved timesheets are updated. To change Cost Rates on locked or approved timesheets, an administrator must temporarily unlock, undo approval, or reject those timesheets (which may notify the employee), apply the Cost Rate change, and then re-approve or re-lock as appropriate.
After you start a bulk Cost Rate update, an indicator will appear while ClickTime processes the change. For best results, wait for this process to complete before making additional large Cost or Billing Rate updates.
Access & permissions
Cost Rates are often considered sensitive. ClickTime lets you control which managers can view or edit them.
- Administrators can see and edit Cost Rates on the Person Details page and run cost and profitability reports.
- Managers can be given permission to View and optionally Add & Edit Cost Rates on a per-person basis in the Security and Permissions section of the Person Details page.
- If a manager does not have permission to view Cost Rates, the Cost section is hidden for that person and cost-related columns are removed from reports for that manager.
Troubleshooting
- “The default didn't apply to this person.” Default Cost Rate in Person Defaults is only used when a person is created. Edit the person’s Person Details page to change their Cost Rate.
- “My cost reports still show the old rate.” Confirm that you used the option to apply the new Cost Rate to existing time entries, that the timesheets were unlocked, and that your report date range includes the updated entries.
- “I can't see the Cost section on Person Details.” Your account may not have permission to view Cost Rates. Contact a ClickTime Administrator to review your permissions.
- “I changed the Default Cost Rate but past people didn't change.” This is expected. Update Cost Rates person by person if needed, and optionally apply the change to their existing time entries.
- “Some timesheets didn't update.” Check whether those timesheets were locked or approved at the time of the update. Only entries on unlocked/unapproved timesheets are included in bulk Cost Rate changes.
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