Rates Setup Checklist

This checklist is designed for ClickTime administrators who are setting up or overhauling Billing Rates and Cost Rates. Use it alongside the detailed rate and reporting articles to plan your rollout, avoid surprises in historical data, and keep Finance in the loop.

1. Before you start

• Meet with Finance and/or Operations to clarify:
  • How you bill clients (by person, by project, by task, or with exceptions).
  • How you think about labor cost (hourly vs salaried cost per period).
  • Which reports and metrics matter most (margin by project, client, person, etc.).
• Decide whether you will update historical entries or treat the new setup as “effective from today.”

2. Turn on billing and confirm prerequisites

• In Company > Preferences > General Information, enable Time Billing Features.
• Decide whether billable status is controlled by Project or Task.
• Confirm that managers and admins who will work with rates have the right permissions.

3. Choose your Billing Rate model

• Review the options in Company > Preferences > Billing Rates:

• Basic: by Person, by Project, or by Task.
• Advanced: Task/Person defaults with exceptions for Projects, Clients, or People.

• Select the model that best matches how you actually invoice.
• Document your choice and any rules for exceptions (for example, “Client X always gets discounted rates”).

4. Configure company-level preferences for rates

• In Billing Rates (Company Preferences):
  • Set the Default Billing Rate.
  • Decide whether to apply the new default to existing entries (and from what date).
• In Person Defaults (Company Preferences):
  • Set the Default Cost Rate for new people.

5. Set Billing Rates on People, Projects, Tasks, and Clients

• For the chosen Billing Rate model, review and update:
  • People – Person Details > Billing Rates.
  • Projects – Project Details > Billing Rates.
  • Tasks – Task Details > Billing Rate.
  • Clients – Client Details > Billing Rates (for Advanced models with client exceptions).
• Use Default where the global rate applies and Custom or Flat where you need special pricing.

6. Configure Cost Rates (Hourly and/or Salaried)

• For hourly staff:
  • Set each person’s Cost Rate on the Person Details page.
  • Use the built-in calculator if you need help estimating an hourly cost.
• For salaried staff (if applicable):
  • Switch to the Salary cost model on the Person Details page.
  • Enter Cost per Timesheet and Projected Cost per Hour.
  • Plan when and how often you will run Adjust Salaried Costs.

7. Set Security, Audit, and Company Lock Date rules

• In Company > Preferences > Security:
  • Decide whether to allow historical Billing and Cost Rate changes.
  • Review who is allowed to apply changes to locked time entries.
• Set or confirm your Company Lock Date to protect closed periods.
• Ensure the Audit Log module (if enabled) meets your compliance needs.

8. Test with a small date range

• Create or use a small sample of time entries that cover:
  • Different people, projects, tasks, and clients.
  • Billable and non-billable work.
  • Hourly and salaried staff (if applicable).
• Run a few key reports, such as:
  • Profitability Summary.
  • Relevant project/client/person cost or margin reports.
  • Customizable Data Export (CDE) with Billing Rate, Cost Rate, Billable Amount, and Total Cost.
• Confirm that rates and billable status behave as expected before applying any large historical changes.

9. Apply historical changes (if needed)

• Decide which changes should affect past entries and from which dates.
• Use the appropriate tools:
  • Default Billing Rate > apply to existing entries using the default.
  • Person/Project/Task/Client Billing Rates > apply to existing time entries for that entity.
  • Hourly Cost Rates > apply to existing unlocked entries.
  • Adjust Salaried Costs for completed salaried timesheets.
• Monitor progress icons and wait for each bulk update to finish before starting another.

10. Go live and communicate

• Notify Finance and key managers that the new rate configuration is live.
• Share which reports they should use for margin and cost views, and any nuances (for example, which projects or clients have special rates).
• Document your rate structure and update process for future administrators.

11. Maintain and review periodically

• Review key profitability reports on a regular cadence (monthly/quarterly).
• Update Billing and Cost Rates as contracts, salaries, or overhead change.
• Use the Rate Card export and CDE spot checks to validate changes over time.