# Rate Cards The rate card is your organization's reusable library of line items: every service, resource, or deliverable your team regularly prices. When building estimates, users pull items from the rate card instead of entering them by hand, which keeps pricing consistent and speeds up estimating. PAI ships with a **Default** rate card of roughly 300 common PAI items, so you're not starting from scratch. Use it as-is, expand it over time, or add project-type cards for pricing that differs. Only Workspace Owners can view and manage rate cards, under **Settings → Rate Cards**. Access rate cards via **Settings → Rate Cards**. --- ## How Rate Cards Work Every workspace starts with the **Default** rate card. Think of it as your global card: it holds the items for every project type in your workspace, and it's the fallback for all rate lookups in PAI. That's why the Default card shows both PAI and AICP items. You can add more rate cards for a specific project type, for example a card per market, a card for a client with negotiated rates, or a card per service line. A project-type card: - Shows only that project type's items, so it has no Project Type column. - Shows the Default card's rates until you change them. - Stores only the rates you override. When you change a rate on it, that rate overrides the Default for projects using the card, and PAI flags it as set differently from the Default card. Every rate you haven't overridden keeps reading from the Default card live. A new card isn't a snapshot of the Default at the time you created it, so updating a Default rate changes it on every card that hasn't overridden that rate. When a line is added to an estimate, PAI takes the item's rate from the project's selected rate card if that card overrides it, and from the Default card otherwise. > [!tip] > Keep the Default card as your standard pricing. Use project-type cards only for the rates that genuinely differ: everything else stays in sync automatically. ### Creating a Rate Card On **Settings → Rate Cards**, which lists every card with its **Name**, **Description**, and **Project Type**, click **Create New** and fill in: - **Project Type**: the project type the card serves. - **Name** - **Description** Each project uses one rate card. It can be changed after the project is created, but only to another card for the same project type. See [Creating a Project](../02-Bidding-a-Project/Creating-a-Project.md). --- ## Project Types A project type defines a budgeting format. Each one carries its own departments, department groups, and line items, plus its own estimate saved views and, where configured, its own print templates. That's why an AICP project opens with AICP views and offers AICP templates when printing (see [Estimate Views](../02-Bidding-a-Project/Estimate-Views.md) and [Sharing Estimates](../02-Bidding-a-Project/Sharing-Estimates.md)). Most workspaces have **PAI**, and many also have **AICP**, the standardized budget format used in advertising. The project type you pick when creating a project decides which items it can use: the line item search only offers that type's items, and an item you create from that project's estimate is added to that project type. Items in different project types are separate records: an "Editor" in PAI and an "Editor" in AICP don't interact. An item's project type is set when you create it and can't be edited afterward. > [!note] > Project types aren't user-customizable. New ones are added through a support request ([email protected]); their items are added to your Default card as part of setup. On the Default card, the saved views at the top of the grid (**PAI**, **AICP**, **AICP POST**) filter the items by project type. --- ## The Rate Card Grid An open rate card shows its items as a grid with **Project Type**, **Name**, **Category**, **Default Department**, **Default Resource Type**, **Account Number**, **Ext. Rate**, **Int. Rate**, **Margin ($)**, and **Margin (%)**. It uses the same view, filter, and search controls as other grids in PAI. Two selectors at the top decide which rate the grid shows, because one item can carry several: - **Unit**: **Flat**, **Hours**, or **Days**. - **Min Hours**: **All**, or a specific threshold (**5**, **8**, **10**, **12**, **14**, **16**). Click an item's name to open it in the sidebar, with all its properties and a **Rates** tab. Items are shared across rate cards; rates belong to the card. --- ## Adding Items Click **Add Item** to open **Create Item**. **Main fields:** - **Name** (required): must be unique within the project type. - **Department** (required): the department the item belongs to. - **Default Resource Type**: **Out Of Pocket** (external vendor, freelancer, or rental spend) or **In-House** (internal staff labor). Defaults to Out Of Pocket. It's only a starting point: the Resource Type can be changed on the line itself. See [Building an Estimate](../02-Bidding-a-Project/Building-an-Estimate.md). - **Unit**: the unit the item starts with on a line: **Days**, **Flat**, or **Hours**. - **Category**: **Labor**, **Equipment**, **Services**, or **Misc**. - **Project Type**: which project type the item can be added to (**PAI** or **AICP**). Defaults to PAI. **Under Show More:** - **Day Type**: for Day-unit items, the day type the item creates when added to an estimate (**Prep**, **Travel**, **Production**, **Wrap**, **Post**). Defaults to Production. See [Days in PAI](../04-Executing-the-Job/Days-in-PAI.md). - **Default Headcount**: for items that represent people, how many individuals the item accounts for. Feeds headcount totals on estimates. - **Revenue Recognition Category**: accounting metadata for financial reporting (**Production**, **Post**, **Fringes**, **Other**). - **Internal Notes**: default notes that come with the line item into estimates. Never shown externally. Useful for standing instructions, such as "Requires advance booking." - **External Description**: default description printed on estimates. Useful for spelling out what an item includes, such as a "Camera Package" with "Includes camera body, lens set, and tripod." --- ## Setting and Editing Rates Use the search icon at the top of the grid to find items by name. Rates can be edited directly in the grid: click into an item's **Ext. Rate** or **Int. Rate** cell and type the new value. The grid edits the rate for the **Unit** and **Min Hours** currently selected. For the full picture, open the item and go to its **Rates** tab. It shows which rate card you're editing (**Selected Rate Card**) and a rate block per unit, each with **External**, **Internal**, and calculated **Margin ($)** and **Margin (%)**: - **Flat** - **Hours** - **Days**: a **Base Day Rate**, plus **Min Hours Rate Overrides** for the 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16-hour thresholds. An override replaces the base day rate for lines with that Min Hours. The base rate applies when a line has no Min Hours, or when its threshold has no override. This is how one item covers several ways of buying the same thing: an editor at a Day rate and an Hour rate, or a camera operator with different rates for a 10-hour and a 12-hour day. Fill in only the units and thresholds you actually sell. ### Account Numbers **Account Number** is an optional field on each item. Fill it in from the item's sidebar when your accounting needs it. PAI prevents duplicates. --- ## Saving Rates from Estimates Building estimates is the most natural way to grow your rate card. A new item you create from an estimate is added to the project's project type automatically, with no separate step. To update an item's pricing, right-click the line and choose **Save Rate**. This writes the line's current unit, external rate, and internal rate to the rate card selected for the project, so the next time the item is pulled on a project using that card it starts with those values. On a project using a project-type card, that makes it an override on that card; the Default card is unchanged. **Save Rate** isn't available on In-House lines, whose rates come from the staff member's own rates. See [Staff Rates](./Staff-Rates.md). --- ## Importing Your Existing Rates If you have an existing rate sheet in a spreadsheet, PAI can convert it to a rate card. Contact [email protected]. --- ## Renaming Items > [!warning] > Renaming an item updates its name everywhere it appears, including every past and future estimate and budget that uses it. Rename only when the underlying service is the same thing under a new name. Renaming an item to represent a different service corrupts historical records.