A job can look profitable until you count the VMS fee or the extra you pay a driver. Record those costs on the offer, and the margin you see is the real one.
Summary
Every offer has two cost tabs. Additional Costs are extra amounts paid to the Crew Member or billed to the client, such as a bonus, meals or lodging. Burden Costs are costs your agency carries for the job that nobody is paid, such as a VMS fee, insurance or workers' comp. For travel nursing assignments, both feed the offer's Pay Package tab, where Net Profit & Margin shows gross profit and margin after burden costs. What goes wrong: a cost left with no unit counts as $0. These costs show on the offer; reports don't include them.
How to do it
- Open the job, go to Offers and open the Crew Member's offer.
- For extra pay or a stipend, click Additional Costs, then ADD.
- Pick the Type, enter the Cost and its unit (Hour, Day, Week, Job and so on), tick Taxable if it is, and pick Pay or Bill. Click Create.
- For a fee your agency carries, click Burden Costs, then ADD.
- Pick the Type and enter the cost. Click Create.
- For a travel nursing assignment, open the Pay Package tab and read Net Profit & Margin.
The Add Burden Cost form
On the offer, Burden Costs › ADD opens this form. Untick Flat Amount to enter a Source Cost and a percentage instead.
That's the true margin on the job. Below: which tab to use, flat amounts vs percentages, and your own cost types.
On this page
Additional cost or burden cost?
| Additional Costs | Burden Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Extra pay to the Crew Member, or an extra you bill the client | A cost your agency carries that nobody is paid |
| Examples | A bonus, meals, lodging, extra pay for driving or an extra duty | A VMS fee, insurance, workers' comp, travel you pay for |
| Where it shows on a travel Pay Package | Pay Rate Details or Bill Rate Details (Taxable or Non Taxable) | Burden Costs, then taken off in Net Profit & Margin |
The Add Additional Cost form
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Type | What the cost is. The list is yours to set up. |
| Note | Why it's being paid, so the next person understands it. |
| Flat Amount and Cost | The amount, and what it's per: Hour, Day, Week, Job, Month or Year. |
| Taxable | Tick it if this pay is taxable. Unticked costs show under Non Taxable. |
| Pay or Bill | Pay: paid to the Crew Member. Bill: billed to the client. |
⚠️ Watch out
Always pick a unit. A cost with no unit shows NotSet and counts as $0.
The Add Burden Cost form
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Type | What the cost is, such as Insurance, Travel, VMS or Workers Comp. The list is yours to set up. |
| Note | Anything the next person needs to know. |
| Flat Amount ticked | Enter the Cost as a dollar amount. |
| Flat Amount unticked | Enter a Source Cost and a percentage. NextCrew works out the Cost from them. |
Set up your own cost types
The Type lists for additional and burden costs are code tables, so your admin can add the ones your agency uses in Settings › Code Tables. See Add, Change or Delete a Value in a Lookup Table.
Where you see the margin
For a travel nursing assignment, open the offer's Pay Package tab. Net Profit & Margin shows Pay Amount, Bill Amount, Burden Costs, Hourly Gross Profit, Gross Profit and Margin. Burden costs are taken off before gross profit and margin are worked out.
Additional and burden costs are kept on each offer. Reports don't include them. For travel packages, see Create and Manage Travel Nursing Pay Packages.
Why it's done this way
| Without NextCrew | In NextCrew |
|---|---|
| Fees tracked in a separate spreadsheet, if at all | Every cost sits on the offer it belongs to |
| A margin that ignores the VMS fee | Burden costs come off before the margin is shown |
| Nobody remembers why a bonus was paid | Each cost has a type and a note |
If something isn't right
| What you see | Check this first | Who fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| A cost shows $0 | Its unit is NotSet. Edit it and pick a unit. | You |
| The margin didn't change after adding a fee | It went on Additional Costs as Pay or Bill. Fees your agency carries belong on Burden Costs. | You |
| The Type you need isn't in the list | Ask your admin to add it in Code Tables. | Your admin |
| A stipend shows as taxable | Edit the cost and untick Taxable. | You |
Questions people ask
What's the difference between an additional cost and a burden cost?
An additional cost is paid to the Crew Member or billed to the client. A burden cost is a cost your agency carries that nobody is paid, such as a VMS fee.
Do burden costs reduce my margin?
Yes. On a travel nursing assignment, they're taken off in Net Profit & Margin on the offer's Pay Package tab.
Can I see these costs in a report?
No. They're kept on each offer.
Can a burden cost be a percentage?
Yes. Untick Flat Amount and enter a Source Cost and a percentage.
Other ways people ask this
- How do I add a VMS fee to a job?
- How do I track extra pay for a Crew Member?
- What is a burden cost?
- How do I see the real profit on a job?
- Where do I add a bonus on an offer?
- How do I add insurance cost to a job?
Related guides
- Create and Manage Travel Nursing Pay Packages — travel nursing only
- How a Staffing Business Works — markup and margin, simply
- Add, Change or Delete a Value in a Lookup Table — add your own cost types
- Orders, Jobs and Offers — where offers fit
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