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A project rate is a billing rate for one person on one project. Use it when a client negotiated a different price for that person’s time. The full rate model lives under Rates. This page covers the project tier.

Project and client rates

The canonical guide to overrides above the person tier.

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Where to set it

Open the project, then Settings → Group. The roster table has a Project rate column.
1

Find the person's row

The column reads Inherits when there is no override.
2

Click the cell

It turns into an input.
3

Type the rate

A plain number, for example 70 or 70.50.
4

Press Enter or click Save

You see “Project rate updated.” Press Escape to cancel instead.

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Where the project tier sits

TimeTracker picks the most specific rate that exists. So a project rate overrides the person’s usual rate, but a task rate still overrides the project rate. Inherits in the column means no override exists and the chain falls through to tier 3. See /rates/how-rates-are-chosen.

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Rates are effective dated

Saving a project rate writes a new rate that applies from today. It never rewrites history.
A rate change is not retroactive. Time already tracked keeps the rate it was priced at, so an invoice you already raised cannot silently change. See /rates/rate-snapshots.
If you need to re-price past work, that is a deliberate adjustment, not a rate edit.

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There is no project cost rate

Billing has five tiers. Cost has one – the person. A person’s cost is what they cost you, wherever they work. Making it project shaped would let the same hour cost two different amounts depending on where it was logged. See /rates/cost-rates.

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What you can see on the roster

Without rate.viewBilling all three columns are absent and the roster still works. Without rate.manage, Project rate renders as plain text – the current value or Inherits – with no editor.

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Example

Ana Ferreira is a contractor with a $80/hour billing rate and a $55/hour cost rate. Bluebird Coffee negotiated $70/hour for copywriting on Website Redesign only.
  1. Priya opens Website Redesign → Settings → Group.
  2. She clicks Ana’s Project rate cell and enters 70, then presses Enter.
  3. From today, Ana’s time on Website Redesign bills at $70/hour.
  4. Ana’s time on Monthly Retainer still bills at her usual $80/hour – the override is project scoped.
  5. Ana’s cost stays $55/hour everywhere. On Website Redesign her margin narrows from $25 to $15 an hour.
If Ana logs 4 hours on Website Redesign, that is $280 of billable value and $220 of cost, for a margin of $60.

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What happens next

  • New time entries on this project pick up the override.
  • The project’s billable value and forecast update on the next rollup.
  • Invoices built from that time use the snapshotted rate on each entry.
  • Time tracked before the change keeps its original rate.

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Permissions

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Plan gating

Setting a billing rate – including a project override – is free. Setting a cost rate requires Pro. Cost and margin figures already recorded stay readable on Free. See /concepts/plans-and-features.

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Common questions

No project override exists for that person. Their rate comes from the next tier down – their own billing rate, then the client default. If neither exists, the hour is unpriced.
Project rates are appended over time rather than deleted. To move someone back to their usual price, set the project rate to the same figure as their person rate.
Because rates are effective dated. A new rate applies from today forward. That is what stops an invoice you already sent from changing under you.
Not in one control. Set a client default rate instead – it applies to anyone with no more specific rate. See /clients/client-rates.
It changes revenue, so it changes margin. It never changes cost.

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Troubleshooting

Project and client rates

The canonical override guide.

How rates are chosen

All five tiers in order.

Cost rates

Why cost has one tier.

Rate snapshots

Why past work never re-prices.

Project members

The roster the column lives on.