A rate is what an hour of work is billed at. Rates are layered, so you can set a sensible default once and override it only where reality differs.
Everything on this screen is billing-administrator only, including reading it. A bill rate is salary-adjacent, and for a contractor it is very close to their pay rate.
1. How a rate is chosen
For each entry, TimeSheets looks for the most specific rate that was in effect on the date the work was done — not the date it was approved or invoiced. That is what makes a re-run a year later produce the same numbers.
2. The precedence order
| Layer | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Person on a project | A named individual's rate on one engagement — the most specific, always wins |
| Project | Everything billed on one project at the same rate |
| Cost centre | A class of work. Walks up the cost centre's parents if no rate is set on it directly |
| Site default | The fallback for everything else |
If no layer matches, the entry is captured unpriced rather than refused. Billing is not allowed to become a blocker on timekeeping.
3. Effective dates
Every rate has a start date and an optional end date. Leave the end empty for an open-ended rate.
A rate rise mid-period does not rewrite what came before: work before the change keeps the old rate, work after gets the new one, and an invoice shows them as two lines because a line may never mix two rates.
4. Adding a rate
- Choose what it applies to — person on a project, project, cost centre, or everything.
- Pick the target — as required by the scope you chose.
- Set the currency and amount — per hour.
- Set the effective dates — start is required, end is optional.
- Save — it applies to work dated inside its window from then on.
5. Ending a rate without replacing it
End closes an open-ended rate at a date without creating a successor. Work after that date falls through to the next layer down — or becomes unpriced if there is none.
6. Previewing which rate would apply
The preview tells you which rate would win for a given person, project, cost centre and date, and why. Use it before a change rather than discovering the answer on an invoice.
7. Who can see rates
Billing administrators, and nobody else. In particular, a person cannot see their own rate in their own timesheet — the timesheet screens never read the billing tables at all.