Rate card¶

Only estimators can add or change rates, items, materials and prices. Quoting users who can't see costs get a Price list instead of the rate card: see The price list.

How the rate card is organised¶

The rate card is a list of rates, grouped into categories such as "Demolition", "Groundworks" or "Planting".

Each rate is one kind of work, priced per unit: for example "Lay porcelain paving" per m². A rate's unit is chosen from a fixed list, so the same thing is always called the same name: m², m³, lin m, item, tree, plant, brick, skip, delivery, week, day, tonne or load.

Categories start collapsed. Select one to open it. For each rate you see:

Labels next to a rate's name tell you more:

• "3 components" (or however many): the rate is built up from several parts.
• "+ nursery price per quote": the rate needs a nursery price on each quote. These are planting size bands. A "+" after the cost and sell means the plant itself is extra.
• "archived": the rate is no longer offered on new quote lines.

To find a rate, type a rate or category name in Search above the list. Matching categories open automatically. Tick Show archived to include archived rates.

Managing categories¶

• To add a category, select + Add category, enter its name, for example "Fencing & boundaries", and select Add category.
• To rename a category, open it, select Rename, change the name and select Rename again.
• To delete a category, open it and select Delete. You can only delete a category with no rates in it, including archived ones.

What a rate is built from¶

A rate is made of one or more components. Each component's quantity is for one unit of the rate. For example, in a rate priced per m², an item quantity of 0.04 means each m² uses 0.04 of that item.

To add a component, select one of the buttons under the list.

Labour¶

Enter what the work is (for example "Install paving"), the crew size, and who does it: choose a labour type such as Paver or Labourer. The list shows each type's rate per day. Then say how long the work takes, in one of three ways. Use the small list under the line to switch between them. The app converts what you've entered, so you don't lose anything.

• (unit) a day: how many units the crew does in a day. For example, a crew of 3 doing 20 m² a day. This is often called "gang × output per day".
• days per (unit): how many days the crew takes for one unit. Useful for large single items.
• minutes per (unit): man-minutes per unit.

Under the line, the app explains the result in plain words. For example, how many man-days each unit takes, at that type's cost per man-day.

Each labour line is costed at its own labour type's rate. Its time is also added to the quote's labour plan.

A mixed gang is one labour line per type, all at the same output. For example, a paver and two labourers laying 12 m² a day is two lines: "1 × Paver, 12 m² a day" and "2 × Labourer, 12 m² a day".

Plant¶

Choose the machine from the plant library (see Plant library). The list is grouped by category and shows each machine's price, for example "£330/load", and a week rate after the day rate if it has one. A machine still marked quote required isn't in the list until it has a price, and an archived one isn't offered for new lines.

For a machine hired by the day, enter how many of it the job uses and how many units it does in a day. For example, two excavators at £250 a day that dig 50 m² a day between them cost £10 per m². Leave the number at 1 for one machine. If the machine has a week rate, a list beside the number lets you choose its day price or its week price, for example "£300 a week". Choose the week price to cost it at a week's hire over 5 working days: a digger at £300 a week costs £60 a day. The app shows "A week's hire over 5 working days is £60 a day".

For a machine priced by the load or by the visit, such as a grab lorry, a skip or a delivery, enter how many loads or visits one unit of the rate takes. There is no output per day. For example, a grab lorry at £330 a load, at 0.1 loads per m³, costs £33 per m³.

For a one-off that isn't in the library, choose Type a day rate (one-off)…, enter what it is and its cost a day. Plant lines from before the library work this way until you pick a machine for them.

Items and wastage¶

Choose an item from the items library and enter how much of it one unit of the rate uses. The list is grouped by item category. The app shows a check, such as "1 bag covers 25 m²".

Quantities are never rounded. A quote prices exactly what its lines use, so 12 m² of a rate that takes a third of a bag per m² prices 4 bags, but 10 m² prices 3⅓ bags, and the job still buys 4. Where you can, build a rate so one unit uses whole bags, tubs or a simple fraction of one, and on a small job allow for the part bag left over, with extra wastage or a custom line.

Wastage allows for material that's cut, broken or spilt. A wastage of 5% means you pay for 5% more than the quantity you entered. New item and fixed-price components start with the business's Default material wastage %, set in Factors & settings. You can change it on each component.

Fixed price¶

Enter what it is, a quantity and a price, and any wastage. Choose whether the cost counts as material, labour or plant. It counts as material unless you change it.

Nursery-priced supply¶

Add this to a planting rate. It marks the place where the plant or tree's own price goes. That price comes from the nurseries on each quote, so the rate's cost here is just the work of planting it.

A rate with a nursery-priced supply component becomes a size band. Size bands are what quoters choose from when they add a plant or tree to a quote. They don't appear in the ordinary rate list.

Spoil¶

Add this to any rate that digs something out, such as a reduce-level dig, lifting paving or breaking out a wall. Choose the Material dug out and enter the m³ dug per unit, measured in the ground. A 200 mm dig per m² digs 0.2 m³.

Spoil has no cost on the rate. Instead, each quote adds up the spoil of all its lines and prices it once, on its muck-away line in Preliminaries, as whole loads of a grab lorry or skip. That's what the job actually pays: part loads are rounded up across the whole job, not line by line. A rate built from another rate with spoil carries its spoil too, so Reduce level dig 200 mm, incl. muck away digs 0.2 m³ of soil per m² because it's 0.2 m³ of the dig rate.

Another rate¶

Choose a rate and enter how much of it one unit of this rate uses. This lets you build bigger rates from smaller ones. For example, a "Patio" rate could include a "Dig out" rate and a "Lay paving" rate.

A rate can't include itself, or any rate that already includes it. Those rates aren't offered in the list.

If other rates use the one you're looking at, they're listed at the bottom under "Used in".

Labour, plant and material¶

Every rate's cost is split into labour, plant and material, like an estimator's spreadsheet. The split shows on the rate card, on the rate, on each quote line and on the workings page.

• Labour components count as labour.
• Plant components count as plant.
• Items count as material.
• Fixed-price components count as whichever you chose.
• A rate inside another rate keeps its own split.

Creating or changing a rate¶

1. On the Rate card, select + New rate, or select an existing rate's name. You need at least one category before you can create a rate.
2. Enter or change the Rate name, Category and Priced per.
3. Add, change or remove components. Use the arrows to reorder them and the bin icon to remove one.
4. Check the gold panel at the bottom. It shows the Rolled-up cost per unit, the labour, plant and material split, and what the rate Sells at with the standard markup and prelims. It also shows how many man-minutes per unit the rate adds to a quote's labour plan.
5. Select Save rate.

A rate needs a name, a unit and at least one component. If a component is incomplete, the app tells you what's missing.

Changes apply to new quotes and new versions, and to drafts when someone updates them to today's rates. Quote versions that already exist keep the prices they were priced on.

Rates on every new quote¶

Some lines go on nearly every job, such as welfare or site set-up. Put them on every new quote so nobody has to add them by hand.

1. Open the rate on the Rate card. It has to be saved first.
2. Under On every new quote, tick Add to every new quote.
3. Choose the default section it goes Under, for example Preliminaries, and enter the Quantity. Each change saves straight away.

Every new quote then starts with the rate under that section, at that quantity. The quoter can change the quantity or delete the line like any other.

A rate starts at a quantity of 0, which makes its line a reminder: it's on the quote but adds nothing until the quoter enters how many. That suits a checklist like Preliminaries, where most jobs need some of each but never the same amount. Enter a quantity above 0 for a line that's always the same, such as one H&S file. Quotes already made don't change. Untick the box to stop adding it.

The sections come from Setup > Factors & settings > Default quote sections, which also lists the rates each section starts with. A rate that's archived isn't added. A planting size band can't be added, because each of its lines needs a plant.

Archiving¶

You can't delete rates, items, machines or labour types, because older quotes still refer to them. Archive them instead.

• To archive a rate, open it and select Archive rate. It's no longer offered when adding lines to quotes, or as a component in other rates. Quotes that already use it are unaffected. To bring it back, tick Show archived on the rate card, open the rate and select Restore rate.
• To archive an item, select Archive next to it on Library > Items. It's no longer offered when building rates. To bring it back, tick Show archived and select Restore.
• To archive a machine, select Archive next to it on Library > Plant. It can't be picked for new plant lines, but rates that already use it keep their prices. To bring it back, tick Show archived and select Restore.
• To archive a labour type, select Archive next to it on Library > Labour. It can't be picked for new labour lines, but rates that already use it keep their prices. To bring it back, tick Show archived and select Restore.

Items, plant and labour¶

The Items, Plant and Labour tabs under Library hold the prices that rates are built from.

Plant library¶

Library > Plant lists the machines you hire or own, grouped by category, so each price is set once instead of typed into every plant line. Each machine is priced one of three ways:

• by the day, like a digger, with a Per week rate beside it if the hire company quotes one. A week's hire is often less than five days at the day rate.
• by the load, like a grab lorry or a skip, with its load size: the Tonnes a load for a grab lorry, whose load is limited by weight, or the m³ a load for a skip, limited by volume. A quote's muck-away line uses that load size to count loads.
• by the visit, like delivering or collecting plant.

The Price column says which: "/day", "/load" or "/visit". A machine with no price shows quote required. It can be listed while you wait for a quote, but it can't be used in a rate until it has a price.

• Used by shows how many rates have a plant line on that machine. Point at it to see their names.
• To add a machine, select + Add machine. Enter the Machine, and if you like its Code, Category and Supplier. Choose how it's Priced: Hire by the day, By the load (grab lorry, skip) or By the visit (delivery). Enter its price, and for day hire its £ per week or for a load its Tonnes a load or m³ a load. Leave the price blank if it needs a quote. Then select Add machine. How a machine is priced can't be changed after it's added; add a new machine instead.
• To change a machine's name, supplier, price or week rate, edit it in the table. Each change saves when you leave the box. Changing a price changes the cost of every rate that uses the machine.
• Select Details under a machine's name to see and change its code, category, load size, How firm the price is (for example "Published local rate · Ex VAT") and Notes.
• Type in Search to find a machine by its name, code, category or supplier.
• To stop using a machine, select Archive. Rates that already use it keep their prices, but it can't be picked for new plant lines. Tick Show archived to see archived machines and Restore one.

Hire prices are for the machine alone. A driver is a labour line beside the machine in the rate, and fuel is its own plant line or a fixed price, so the machine's price stays the hire price. Delivery and collection are machines priced by the visit: add them to a quote once, not inside every rate.

A platform admin can ask a developer to add the plant catalogue Beesleys researched to a business's plant library. See Platform admin.

Labour types¶

Library > Labour lists the kinds of worker you price, such as Paver, Groundworker or Labourer, each with its own charge-out rate. When labour types first came in, every business got one called General at its old labour rate, and every labour line was put on it, so no rate's cost changed.

• Enter a type's rate either per man-day or per man-hour: the app works out the other from the length of the working day. Changing it changes the cost of every rate with labour of that type.
• Used by shows how many rates have a labour line of that type. Point at it to see their names.
• To add a type, select + Add labour type, enter its name and its rate per man-day, and select Add labour type.
• To rename a type, edit its name in the table.
• To stop using a type, select Archive. Rates that already use it keep their prices, but it can't be picked for new labour lines. Tick Show archived to see archived types and Restore one.

A type can't be deleted, because rates and earlier quotes still point at it.

Items¶

Library > Items lists every material, with its Supplier, what it's Sold per (for example "bag" or "tonne"), its Price and which rates use it.

Items are grouped into categories that you set, such as Aggregates, Paving or Timber. Select a category to open or close it. Typing an item or supplier name in Search opens every category with a matching item. When the categories first came in, a business's existing items were all put in one called General.

• To add an item, select + New item, enter the Item name, choose its Category, enter the Supplier, Sold per and Price £, and select Add item. The category starts as the one you have open.
• To change an item, edit it in the table. Each change saves when you leave the box.
• To move an item to another category, choose the category under its name.
• To add a category, select + Add category, enter its name and select Add category.
• To rename a category, open it and select Rename. You can delete a category only when it has no items in it, including archived ones. Open it and select Delete.

Categories only help you find items. They don't change any prices.

Changing a price here takes effect straight away. To change it from a later date, see the next section.

Scheduling price changes¶

You can set a price change to take effect from a date, for example when a supplier's new price list starts. You can schedule:

• an item's price
• a machine's price (its day rate, or its price a load or visit)
• a labour type's charge-out rate
• a whole rate: its name, category, unit and components.

Scheduling an item price, day rate or labour rate¶

1. For an item, go to Library > Items and select from a date… under its price. For a machine's day rate or a labour rate, go to Library > Plant or Library > Labour and select Schedule next to it.
2. Choose the date in From, and enter the new price.
3. Select Schedule. If you leave the date as today, the button says Change now and the change applies straight away.

Scheduling a change to a rate¶

1. Open the rate and make your changes.
2. At the bottom, set Takes effect to a later date.
3. The button changes to Schedule change. Select it.

Upcoming changes¶

Scheduled changes are listed under Upcoming changes:

• on the Rate card: every scheduled change
• on Items: item price changes
• on Plant: machine price changes
• on Labour: labour-rate changes
• on a rate: changes to that rate.

Each shows the date it takes effect, what's changing, and the cost now and from that date. For rates, both costs are worked out at today's item prices, plant day rates and labour rates.

To cancel a scheduled change, select Cancel next to it.

When scheduled changes apply¶

Changes are applied automatically once their date arrives (UK time). The app checks every hour. It also applies any changes that are due just before a quote or new version takes its copy of the rate card, so new quotes always use the prices in force that day.

Existing quote versions keep the rates they were priced with. Drafts pick up the new prices only if someone updates them to today's rates.

If a change can't be applied, for example because the item no longer exists, it says "Couldn't be applied" with the reason. Select Dismiss to clear it.

Materials for muck-away¶

The materials a spoil line can dig out, such as soil, stone and rubble, are set in Factors & settings, not in the items library. Each material has:

• Bulking %: how much the material grows in volume once it's dug out. Soil at 30% means 1 m³ in the ground becomes 1.3 m³ in the lorry.
• Density t/m³: how many tonnes one cubic metre weighs. The app uses this to turn volume into tonnes for a grab lorry.

See Team and settings.

The price list¶

Quoting users who can't see costs see a Price list tab instead of Rate card. It lists every rate that isn't archived, by category, with its sell price per unit at the business's standard markup and prelims. Size bands show "+ nursery price", because the plant is priced on each quote.

A quote's prices can differ from the price list if the quote's markup is changed.