# Default Modifiers Default Modifiers are the fringes and markups you configure once at the organization level so they automatically appear on every new project estimate. Your standard cost structure — payroll taxes, insurance, production fees, agency commissions — is set up here and carried forward into each job without any manual setup. This is one of the more important configuration steps in PAI. Every estimate your team builds inherits from these defaults, which means the consistency of your pricing, the completeness of your cost coverage, and the accuracy of your internal accruals all depend on getting this right once. A well-configured defaults page ensures payroll taxes don't get forgotten on a rushed bid, that internal costs are properly accrued against their actual cost to your organization, and that your margin math is reliable from the first line item of every new job. Access Default Modifiers via **Settings → Modifiers**. For a full explanation of how Fringes and Markups work within an estimate — including how each type calculates, the Passthrough option, Apply to Fringes, and group-level assignment — see [Modifiers](../02-Bidding-a-Project/Modifiers.md). --- ## Fringes and Markups The Modifiers settings page has two sections, **Fringes** and **Markups**. Both follow the same creation and scoping pattern. The difference is how they calculate within an estimate: - **Fringes** are absorbed into line item totals. The charge lands at the line level, embedded in what each line shows. - **Markups** aggregate separately above the line level. They don't change individual line totals and appear in the **Markups** row of Live Margins. --- ## Creating a Default Modifier Click **Add Fringe** or **Add Markup**. PAI adds the new modifier to the list right away, unnamed, at 0%, and applied to all lines. There's no separate form: you set it up in place on its row. - **Name**: click the pencil next to the name to rename it. Use names your team will recognize (e.g., "P&W", "Production Fee", "Agency Commission"). - **Color**: click the swatch to pick a color. Colors distinguish modifiers in the estimate view, so keep a consistent scheme across your org. - **External Percent**: the rate billed to the client. - **Internal Percent**: your actual cost. - **Passthrough**: passes the modifier to the client at cost. PAI floats the external side so the external amount matches the internal amount, and the External field shows `n/a`. Markups have one additional option: - **Apply to Fringes**: the markup calculates against the line item total (subtotal + fringes) instead of the subtotal alone. > [!tip] > Because a new modifier starts out applied to all lines, set its percentages and scope before your team creates new projects. To remove a modifier, click the trash icon on its row and confirm **Really Delete?**. --- ## Default Application (Scoping) Click the caret (`>`) to the left of a modifier's name to set where it applies when new projects are created. The row reads *By default, this fringe should be applied to …* followed by a dropdown with four options, the same for Fringes and Markups: - **all lines in a project**: applies to every line item in any new estimate. Use this for universal costs that apply regardless of what's in the budget. This is the default for a new modifier. - **none of the items in a project**: the modifier is available in the estimate's Modifiers window and line item fields but isn't applied to anything automatically. Use this for modifiers that vary by situation, such as payroll tax rates that differ by state, so the project team picks the right one instead of starting with a wrong rate pre-applied. - **specific categories**: choose one or more categories. The modifier applies to every line item in those categories on new estimates. Use this to target a cost type, such as P&W on Labor only. - **specific departments**: choose one or more departments. The modifier applies to every line item in those departments on new estimates. After choosing categories or departments, click the checkmark to save the rule. To narrow a rule further, click **+** to add an **… and** condition on the other dimension. A line must match both conditions. For example, P&W set to the **Labor** category *and* the **Production** departments applies to Labor lines in Production, not to all Labor. --- ## How Defaults Behave - **New projects only.** Default modifiers apply at project creation. Changing defaults later doesn't affect existing projects. - **Project-level changes always win.** Once a project exists, change its modifiers freely in the estimate's Modifiers window. The organization defaults stay as they are. - **Defaults are the starting toolkit for the job.** The modifiers on a project, from these defaults plus any added during estimating, are what's available on budget expense lines. A fringe can also be created from a budget line's **Fringes** field, but markups can't, so configuring your defaults carefully here is how you make sure the right modifiers are on hand throughout a job. > [!note] > To update modifiers on an existing project, use the estimate's Modifiers window (the **%** button in the estimate toolbar). See [Modifiers](../02-Bidding-a-Project/Modifiers.md).