Split cost and billable rates

A rate card’s cost rate answers “what does this hour cost us?” Billable rates answer the other half: “what do we charge the client for it?” Once any rate card carries a billable rate or markup, Onplana starts reporting revenue and margin alongside cost on billable projects.

How the billable rate is derived

Each rate card has two optional fields next to the cost rate:

• Billable rate (hourly): the explicit charge-out rate.
• Markup %: a percentage added on top of the cost rate.

The precedence is strict:

1. If Billable rate is set, that is the charge-out rate. The Markup field is disabled and shows “Override active”.
2. Otherwise, if Markup % is set, the billable rate is the cost rate plus the markup. A 100/hour cost rate with 35% markup bills at 135/hour, and the form previews the result live as you type.
3. If neither is set, the billable rate equals the cost rate. There is no margin, and revenue reporting treats the card as cost-only.

The same resolution chain as cost rates applies: a per-user card wins over a role-based card, which wins over the org default.

Set it up

1. Open Rate Cards and edit a card (or create a new one).

2. Fill in Billable rate (hourly), or leave it empty and set Markup % instead. Watch the live preview to confirm the derived hourly charge.

3. Save. The split takes effect immediately wherever that card resolves.

Tip

Use Markup % when your pricing is a uniform multiplier over cost, and the explicit billable rate when contracts pin a specific hourly figure. Mixing both on one card is pointless, the explicit rate always wins.

Where the margin shows up

• Project Finance tab: on a billable project, four revenue cards appear above the S-curve once at least one resolved rate card carries a billable rate or markup: Earned Revenue, Planned Revenue, Revenue Margin, and Realization %. Internal projects and cost-only rate setups show the cost columns alone.
• Revenue at Risk: the report and dashboard widget use the billable rate to price unbilled hours. See Track revenue at risk.
• Rate lookups: anyone can resolve their own billable rate, and the result says how it was derived (explicit rate, markup, or cost-only).

FAQs

What happens if I set neither field? Revenue equals cost, so there is no margin to report. The Finance tab hides the revenue cards rather than showing a row of zeros.

Do internal projects show revenue? No. Revenue figures only appear on projects marked as billable, since internal work has no client to invoice.

Is there a limit on the markup? Markup accepts 0 to 1000 percent. If you need more than 10x cost, set the explicit billable rate instead.