The cost associated with a time entry record is calculated based on a rate multiplied by the total hours for that time entry record. The table below shows a typical time entry record and how the rate is determined.
The Rate on the time entry record is determined with reference to the "Rate To Use" field on the project related to the time entry record and the corresponding rate on the resource record. In the example above, the rate will therefore be $500 and when we multiply the total hours (10) with this rate, we get the cost of $5000. Note that the Cost is only calculated if the time entry is marked as "Billable", otherwise it will always be zero.
The important thing to be aware of is that the rate is determined when the time entry is ADDED or UPDATED and applies to the whole record, i.e. the total hours are multiplied by the rate to determine the cost. It will not change if the rate on the resource record is changed UNLESS the time entry record is subsequently updated. New time entry records, created subsequent to the rate change will however use the new rate.
The reason that the rate is recorded on the time entry record itself is so that if the rate is changed on the resource record, it does not retro-actively change all existing time entries. The new rate will only therefore impact time entry records that are added or updated after the rate has changed.
Impact of the above
In the example above, if this time entry record was added on 27 Jun and then updated again on 30 June while the rate on the resource record is $500, the rate on the time entry record will be $500. If the rate is however changed on the morning of 1 July on the resource record and the time entry record is updated subsequent to this by recording the 3 hours for 1 July, the rate on the time entry record will change to the new rate e.g. $550. The cost will therefore change to $5500.
Since the intention was probably to have the new rates effective only from 1 July, the cost should actually be ((2+5) x 500) + (3 x 550) = $5150.
Simplest approach to changing rates
To avoid any problems resulting from the scenario above, it is recommended that you choose your effective date for new rates to coincide with a week start date. In our example above, you could for example choose your effective date to be Sunday, 3 July. Furthermore, you would ensure that everybody's time sheets are up to date by Saturday, 2 July. You would then do your rate change on 3 July by updating all the resource records. All new time captured after this will then reflect at the new rate. To ensure that nobody updates "old" time entries, you can set up a validation rule to prevent this, i.e. prevent all updates where the week start date is prior to 3 July. If you require assistance with this, please contact the support desk for assistance.
Updating a large number of rates
If you have a large number of resources and do not wish to update the rates manually, you can log a support call and provide the support team with a list of resource keys with the new rates in a spreadsheet. The support team will then bulk load the data for you at the time that you specify. Note that the work in respect of this may be chargeable so check with your success manager or with the support desk.
Changing rates in the middle of the week
If for some reason you have to change rates with an effective date that is in the middle of a week, i.e. on 1 July in the example above, it can only be done retroactively after all time entry records for the week in which the change became effective have been completed, i.e. all time entries up to 2 July should have been captured. If you are using approvals on time entries then you also need to make sure that all the time entries have been approved.
It is also advisable to implement a validation rule to ensure that users do not update these time entry records again i.e. prevent all updates where the week start date is prior to 3 July. If you require assistance with this, please contact the support desk for assistance.
You then log a support call specifying what the effective date should be and optionally also provide the new rates. What the support team will then do, is to split any time entry records that span the effective date into two separate records as shown in the table below.
The result of the above is that the total cost is $5150 which is what you want.
Retroactively applying new rates
Let's say that the new rates are only available towards the middle of July, but you want to apply the new rates retroactively to an earlier date, say the beginning of July. Once again just log a support call and they will be able to assist you. The process that is followed is the same as described in the previous section, except that the rate for all records after the effective date will be updated to the latest rate.