Date Based Rates and Planning
Vision's effective dates feature allows you to specify when a change will occur in the cost/pay rate associated with a specified labor rate, labor category, labor code, or labor override table. The date that a change is scheduled to occur is the "effective date" of the change, or the "date-based rate." Here is an example of how it works.
You can set up multiple rates with different start and end dates for an employee. In these cases, Vision uses all dates that are appropriate for the calendar period where cost and billing amounts are being calculated, and will calculate the correct rate for that period.
Example:
The plan calendar is set up by the following months: January through March. The employee rate table is as follows:
| Employee: Joe Smith | Table No. | Rate | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00278 | 3 | 50.00 | 1/1/2005 | 1/31/2005 |
| 00278 | 3 | 75.00 | 2/1/2005 | 2/28/2005 |
| 00278 | 3 | 100.00 | 3/1/2005 | 3/31/2005 |
| 00278 | 1 | 60.00 | 1/1/2005 | 1/31/2005 |
| 00278 | 1 | 85.00 | 2/1/2005 | 2/28/2005 |
| 00278 | 1 | 110.00 | 3/1/2005 | 3/31/2005 |
On the Rates tab, the Cost is set to Table No. 3 and Billing is set to Table No. 1. Vision calculates the cost and billing amounts as follows:
| Name | Cost Rate | Billing Rate | 1/1-1/31 | 2/1-2/18 | 3/1/-3/31 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Smith 00278 | Planned Hours | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||
| Planned Cost | 500 | 750 | 1000 | |||
| Planned Bill | 600 | 850 | 1100 |
Vision first finds the rate for the designated employee from the specified table. The start and end date for the rate make it active for the period being calculated. Vision uses that rate, which is then calculated, saved, and retrieved from the database.
The Cost Rate and Billing Rate columns are blank in the table because they can fluctuate when you use date based rates. If you enter a rate into these columns, Vision overrides the date based rate with the user entered rate for the entire resource row. When date based rates are used and you select Refresh Rates on the Rates tab, all user entered amounts in the cost and billing rate columns are deleted and amounts for the resource are recalculated using date based rates.
When you set the rate method on the Rates tab to From Employee Provisional Rate, and select resources, Vision places the employee provisional rates in the rates columns in the Planning grids. Vision uses these rates for all cost and billing calculations for that row. If you choose another rate method and click Refresh Rates, Vision removes the provisional rates and calculates date based rates for the row.