Cost Rates & Project Profitability
Set cost rates to track project margins and profitability.
Written By Lauri Eurén
Last updated 4 months ago
Set default costs as fallbacks for internal people and externals
If the position on the project has no more specific cost, Operating will use the base cost rate to estimate profitability.
Set cost cards for each of your sites
Costs are site-specific as labor costs differ based on location. Set cost rates for unspecified roles, roles, and for seniority levels.
E.g. a senior project manager in London might cost £120/hr while the same role in Finland might cost £100/hr. This will yield a different project profitability with the same charge-out rates.
Override costs on an individual level
You can go as far as set person-specific costs. Under everyone’s personal profile you can find a section called employment > add cost rate.
Use this to override the role- and seniority-based rates when you’ve finally staffed a person on the project.
View planned project margin on the timeline
When you’ve drawn project allocations on the timeline, you’ll notice the margin appear on the top right corner of the project drawer. Project margin is calculated differently for fixed price and time & materials projects:
Fixed price = Project budget - Cost of work allocated
Time & Materials = Amount of work allocated * charge-out rates - cost of work allocated
How to Override Cost Rates for Externals in a Project
By default, externals (subcontractors) use the cost rate defined in their profile or by their role, site, and seniority. However, you can set a different cost rate for them within a specific project. This allows you to reflect project-specific agreements or varying subcontractor costs.
Steps to override cost:
Open the project where the external is assigned.
Locate the external’s position by clicking the person’s name
Click Edit position.
Toggle Override cost on.
Enter the desired hourly cost and select the currency.
Save your changes.
The overridden cost will now apply only within that project and that specific position. It does not affect the external’s default cost in other projects.
Limit access to cost calculations in the permissions settings
You can limit who can see and manage cost rates under settings > permissions by toggling the checkbox for costs on and off. Note that there are two checkboxes for edit and view permissions separately.