Configure rate cards

Rate cards tell Onplana what an hour of someone’s time costs. They power the Finance tab’s earned value math, timesheet cost reporting, and compliance cost-at-risk figures. Without at least one rate card (or a default hourly rate), cost figures stay empty rather than being invented.

The three scopes

A rate card applies at one of three scopes, from most to least specific:

• Per-user: a rate for one named person. Wins over everything else.
• Role-based: a rate for everyone with a given organization role, for example all Members.
• Org default: the fallback rate for anyone without a more specific card.

When Onplana needs a rate for someone, it resolves in that order: per-user rate, then role-based rate, then org default. If no card matches at all, a built-in fallback applies, and the page flags it so you know the figure is not one you configured.

Create a rate card

1. Open Rate Cards (from the People page, or via Manage Rate Cards on any project’s Finance tab).

2. Select New Rate Card and pick the scope. For per-user and role-based cards you can select several people or roles at once; Onplana creates one card each.

3. Enter the Cost rate (hourly) and pick the Currency. The cost rate is what the hour costs you (salary plus overhead), not what you charge clients.

4. Set Effective from, and optionally Effective to for rates that expire, like a contractor engagement or an annual rate review.

5. Add a Label if you want the card to be easy to find later, then save.

Overlap protection

Onplana refuses to save two cards for the same person (or the same role) whose date ranges overlap, because the resolver would not know which one applies. When you hit a conflict, the error tells you exactly which card overlaps and offers a one-click fix: End previous on the day before your new card starts, so the two ranges meet cleanly without overlapping.

The rate resolver

The Resolve picker at the top of the Rate Cards page answers “what rate actually applies to this person right now?” Pick a member and it shows the effective hourly rate plus where it came from: a per-user card, a role-based card, the org default, or the built-in fallback. The matching card is highlighted in the list below.

Tip

Use the resolver after any rate change. It is the fastest way to confirm that a new per-user card really overrides the role rate you expected it to.

Who can see and manage rates

Managing rate cards, and viewing the full org rate list, defaults to portfolio managers and above, since the list is effectively a compensation table. Owners can change this tier in the permission matrix. Individual members can always look up their own effective rate.

FAQs

Can two cards for the same person ever overlap? No. The save is refused with details of the conflicting card and a suggested end date that makes the ranges meet without overlapping.

What happens if nobody has a rate card? Cost figures on the Finance tab stay empty rather than being fabricated. Set up an org default card (or a default hourly rate in Organization Settings) and the figures populate on the next refresh.

Do rate cards handle multiple currencies? Yes. Each card has its own currency, and project finance figures convert into the project’s currency using your organization exchange rates.