Rates

Cobra uses rate sets to store multipliers that are used in generating derived costs.

Since rates may change over time, rate sets define the rate that is applicable on any given date. The principal use of rate sets in Cobra is the calculation of costs as defined by the various resources. You can also assign rate files when defining budget, actual, and forecast cost classes. A collection of rate sets is called a rate file.

Rates are used in resource calculations to define how derived costs are calculated. All projects must use a rate file to calculate the derived cost for the budget. Once a project is underway, the forecast rates often change. In addition, new scope may use the most current forecast rates. For this reason, you can assign a rate file to a class. This provides not only rate escalation, but a completely different set of rates for different costs.