A rate configuration is the pay rate and bill rate for every position a client uses. Set it once and every job order for that client picks the rates up automatically. Nobody types a rate into a job. Nobody has to remember what this client pays for a night shift.
It is the single highest-consequence setup in CRM. A wrong rate here becomes a wrong timesheet, a wrong payroll run and a wrong invoice before anyone notices.
Summary
A rate configuration holds the pay rate and the bill rate for every position a client uses. Set it once and every job order for that client picks the rates up by itself.
You build it under Settings > Company Profile, then attach it to the client. Creating a configuration does not apply it to anybody — the client record is where the two are joined, and one configuration can serve many clients.
Check the margin as you go, not afterwards. Pay and bill are entered separately, so a transposed pair looks like nothing on screen and loses money on every hour.
Nothing is retrospective. A rate change applies only to job orders created after it. Existing jobs and timesheets keep the rates they were created with, and nothing warns you.
How to do it
1Go to Settings > Company Profile and open the Rate Configuration tab.
2Click + New and name it for reuse, not for one client.
3Add each position the client uses — pay code, pay rate, bill rate — and click Apply.
4Open a position’s flyout to set shift differential, overtime, double time and holiday.
5Save the configuration.
6Go to CRM > Clients, open the client, set the Rate Configuration field and save.
7Read the margin on every line before you rely on it.
▶ Watch a rate configuration being built
That is the configuration built and attached. Everything below is for when a rate turns up somewhere you did not expect it, which is the only question this page really gets asked.
ON THIS PAGE
Who this applies to
- Administrators and managers — only these roles can create or edit a rate configuration.
- Whoever signs the client contract — the numbers in the contract and the numbers in here have to be the same, and one person should own that.
- Payroll and billing — you are downstream of this. If it is wrong here, it is wrong everywhere you look.
Before you start
- The signed rates. Pay rate and bill rate for every position the client will use. Not the ones discussed on a call — the ones in the contract.
- The Rate Configuration Management permission. Granted under Settings > Staff > Roles.
- Your positions set up, because the configuration lists them and you fill in rates against each one.
- A decision on pay codes — whether this client has different rates for different pay codes, or one rate per position.
Name it for reuse, not for one client
The first thing the form asks for is a name, and it is the decision people get wrong. One configuration can serve many clients.
| If… | Name it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Every client has genuinely different rates | After the client | Mercy General Rate |
| Several clients share the same structure | After the structure | Facility Rate · Private Event Rate · Warehouse Standard |
| You are not sure yet | After the structure | You can always create a client-specific one later. Splitting a shared configuration is easy; merging forty client-specific ones is not. |
Steps
Step 1: Open Rate Configuration
Go to Settings > Company Profile and select the Rate Configuration tab.
Step 2: Create the configuration
Click + New and give it the name you settled on above.
Step 3: Add a rate for each position
NextCrew lists your available positions. For each one the client uses:
- Select the Pay Code.
- Enter the Pay Rate — what the Crew member earns.
- Add a Markup if you price that way, or leave it and enter the bill rate directly.
- Enter the Bill Rate — what the client is charged.
- Click Apply.
Use + Add Position to add another. Only add the positions this client actually uses — a configuration listing every position you have ever staffed is harder to check.
Step 4: Add differentials, overtime and holiday
Click the arrow next to a position to open its flyout panel. There you can set:
| Rate | What it is | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Shift Differential | An addition for less desirable hours — nights, weekends. | None. You set it. |
| Overtime Rate | Applied when hours cross the overtime threshold. | 1.5 × the regular rate |
| Double Time Rate | Applied at the double-time threshold. | 2 × the regular rate |
| Holiday Rate | Applied on days you have designated as holidays. | None. You set it. |
Step 5: Save it, then attach it to the client
Save the configuration. Creating it does not apply it to anyone. The configuration and the client are separate things. The client record is where you join them.
Then go to the client and attach it. Open CRM > Clients, select the client, and choose the configuration in the Rate Configuration field on the client detail screen. Save.
What happens when someone creates an order
The client's rate configuration is applied to the order automatically. Whoever creates the order does not have to know the rates, look anything up, or remember what this client pays. That is the whole point of setting one up.
But it is a default, not a lock. The person creating the order can change the rate configuration on that order before they save it.
The flexibility is deliberate and worth having. A one-off job at a different rate, an emergency fill priced differently, a trial engagement — all of those need an override. It just means the configuration tells you what should have applied, not what did.
What happens to jobs that already exist
This matters most in the week a rate changes. Say the client's new rates start on the 1st, and somebody created next week's jobs on the 28th. Those jobs carry the old rates, and they will bill at the old rates.
So when rates change mid-cycle: update the configuration, then check any jobs already created for the period the new rate covers. Correcting them is a job-level fix, not a rate-table one.
If it's not working
A job picked up the wrong rate
Symptom. A job order shows a rate nobody expected, or a timesheet bills at the wrong number.
Check, in this order — each one rules out the next:
- When was the job created? If it predates the rate change, it has the old rates and always will. That is the answer nine times out of ten.
- Was the configuration changed on the order itself? The client's configuration is only the default — whoever created the order can pick a different one. Open the order and look. This is the cause people miss, because the rate table checks out fine.
- Is the right configuration attached to this client? Check the Rate Configuration field on the client detail screen. A client with none, or with a shared one nobody meant to use, produces exactly this.
- Is the position right on the job? Rates are per position. A job created against the wrong position picks up that position's rates correctly — the rate is not the error, the position is.
- Is it a pay code difference? If the client has rates by pay code, check which pay code the job used.
- Is a differential or overtime multiplier involved? A rate that looks wrong by exactly 1.5× or 2× is not wrong.
I changed the rate and nothing happened
This is working as designed. See What happens to jobs that already exist. The change is live for everything created from now on. Existing jobs and timesheets are unaffected and have to be handled individually.
I can't see Rate Configuration
Symptom. The tab is not under Settings > Company Profile.
Cause. Only Managers and Administrators can create or edit rate configurations.
Fix. An administrator enables Rate Configuration Management under Settings > Staff > Roles for your role. Sign out and back in afterwards. See Admin guides to managing company permissions.
How to know it's complete
- ✅ Every position this client uses has a pay rate and a bill rate.
- ✅ The numbers match the signed contract — checked against the contract, not from memory.
- ✅ The margin on each line is the right way round.
- ✅ Overtime, double time, holiday and any shift differential are set, or deliberately left at their defaults.
- ✅ The configuration is selected in the Rate Configuration field on the client detail screen, not just created.
- ✅ A test job order for that client picks up the expected rate.
What this is compatible with
| Feature | Availability |
|---|---|
| Rate configurations | Fully compatible with legacy |
| Rates by pay code | NextCrew 2.0 only |
| Shift differentials | NextCrew 2.0 only |
Before you rely on these rates
Related articles
- How to Add a New Client — the client record a rate configuration attaches to
- How to create invoices for clients — where these bill rates end up
- Preferred and Not Preferred (DNR) Crew — setting a custom rate for a specific Crew member at a specific client
- User Guide to Manage Configuration for CRM — the other CRM settings behind these screens
- Admin guides to managing company permissions — granting Rate Configuration Management
- Code Tables HQ — pay codes and positions, which this screen reads from
FAQ
Q: If I update a rate configuration, will it affect existing jobs?
A: No. Updates apply only to job orders created after the change. Existing jobs and timesheets keep the rates they were created with, and have to be corrected individually if that is wrong.
Q: Can someone use a different rate configuration on one order?
A: Yes. The client's configuration is applied to the order by default, and whoever creates the order can change it before saving. Useful for a one-off price; also the reason a rate can look wrong when the rate table is perfectly correct.
Q: Do I need a separate rate setup for each client?
A: Not always. If several clients share the same rate structure, one configuration can serve all of them — and then a single edit updates every one. Create a client-specific configuration only when the rates are genuinely unique.
Q: Can staff without an admin role edit rates?
A: No. Creating and editing rate configurations needs Manager or Administrator permissions.
Q: What are the default overtime and double-time multipliers?
A: Overtime defaults to 1.5 × the regular rate and double time to 2 ×. Both can be changed per position.
Q: Can I set a different rate for one particular Crew member?
A: Yes, but not here — a per-crew custom rate is set on the client's crew preference list when you add them as preferred. See Preferred and Not Preferred (DNR) Crew.
Q: Can I set rates by pay code?
A: Yes, in NextCrew 2.0. Rates by pay code and shift differentials are both 2.0-only.
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