Planning Rate Cards

Rate cards are used as a starting point for defining matter-level rates. From Admin you can create, edit or apply rules to existing rate cards. Each rate card object has multiple fields.

Hierarchy for Planning rates are: Currency of the rate card matches. Then, If rates are not found, then ordinals of the rate cards apply. Then finally if no ordinals contain the rate, or multiple exist, then effective dates will be used.

Access Rate Cards in the Admin Panel

1. Type Rate Cards in the Modules search field and click the magnifying glass icon. The folder tree narrows to show only those nodes matching the search criteria.
2. Click the Planning Rate Cards node in the Admin folder. The Planning Rate Cards tab appears in the main application space, listing any rate cards currently in the system.

Create a New Rate Card

Use the following instructions to manually add a rate card in the Admin Panel.

1. In the Rate Cards node in the Admin Panel, click the Add button. The Add Record dialog box appears.
2. Fill in the fields on the Add Record screen. For more information on these fields, see the prior section.
3. Click Save to add the rate card.

Field	Description
Rate Card	Name of the rate card.
Description	The summary for the purpose of this rate card
Currency	Currency symbol for the rate card.
Effective	Date after which this rate card is effective. If there are multiple default rate cards in the same currency, the effective date is used to determine which rate card is used for rate lookups. If there are multiple effective dates that are the same, the card with the latest entry is used.
End Date	The date on which this rate card should no longer be effective.
Type	Make the appropriate selections from the drop-down fields. You can make only one selection from each field; if multiple selections are needed, you will have to create a separate rate card
Status	Select to mark rate card as Active
Default	Checked if this rate card represents the firm standard rate for this particular currency. Firm standard rate cards hold rates that are used when pricing matters. One standard rate card per currency is required. If multiple rate cards exist, the EffectiveDate field is used to find the rate that is active on a particular date. Firm standard rate cards are also used for calculating rate realization (a comparison of the matter rate to the firm standard rate).
Order	Set the order for the rate card
Base Rate Card	Rate card that this rate card was based on, if applicable.
Use Base Rates	Select this checkbox if the base rate card should be used for resolving any missing rates.
Allow Office Rates	Set this flag to enable selecting office-specific fee classes when defining rates.
Filters	If this rate card should apply only to certain lawyers, clients, matter types, or countries, make the appropriate selections from the dropdown lists. Filters are not applicable for firm standard rate cards. Tip: If multiple filters of different types are set, all filters must be matched for the rate card to show up. If multiple values are set within the same filter type, matching any value is sufficient for the rate card to show up.
Rounding Method	Selects the rounding to be applied per rate card and rate. Select new rate or edit rate to apply on the rate level. Select new rate card or edit rate card to apply it to the whole rate card level. Tip: The order in which rounding is applied is: First planning rate rounding is used, then currency rounding, and lastly the global settings currency format.

Modify a Rate Card

1. To modify information for a rate card, select it in the list and click the Edit button.
2. View/Modify the fields on the Edit Record dialog. For more information on these fields, see the prior section.
3. Click Save to apply the changes to the rate card.

Add Rates to a Rate Card

After creating a rate card, use the following instructions to enter the specific rates.

1. In the Planning Rate Cards node in the Admin Panel, select the appropriate rate card and access the Rates tab on the right side of the screen.
2. Fill in the fields on the Add Record screen, using the table below as a reference.

   Field		Description
   Type		Select to link the rate card to Firm, Matter, Client, or Phase.
   Rate For		Select to apply the rate to the selected category only
   Currency		Select the currency for the rate card
   Hourly Rate		Enter the Hourly rate for the selected option
   Effective Date		Date on which this rate becomes effective.
   End Date		Enter the date on which this rate should no longer be effective.
   Ordinal		The rate with the highest ordinal will apply for the selected option, unless a rule is applied to override the rate. Note: Rules will apply in the order of the ordinal.

3. Click the Save button.

Rules

Rules modify or override hourly rates. Similar to rates, rules are activated by effective date.

To add a rule to a rate card:

1. In the Planning Rate Cards node in the Admin Panel, select the appropriate rate card and access the Rules tab on the right side of the screen.
2. Click the Add button.
3. Fill in the fields on the Add Record screen, using the table below as a reference. When finished, click Save.

Rule Type	Description
Type	Select to link the rate card to Firm, Matter, Client, or Phase.
Rate For	Select to apply the rule to the selected category only
Currency	Select the currency for the rate card
Forced Hourly Rate	If applicable, enter a rate amount that will be enforced for all timekeepers included in this rule, overriding other rate information on the card.
Rate Minimum	Enter a minimum rate that can be charged for the selected category included in this rule.
Rate Cap	Enter a maximum rate that can be charged for the selected category included in this rule.
Discount Amount	If applicable, enter a flat amount by which the rate specified on the rate card should be reduced for the selected category that fall under this rule.
Discount (%)	If applicable, enter a percentage by which the rate specified on the rate card should be reduced for timekeepers that fall under this rule.
Effective Date	Date after which this rule is effective.
End Date	Enter the date on which this rule should no longer be effective.
Rate Lock Date
Rate Card Override	Select the rate card to be overridden by this rule.
Ordinal	If applicable, enter a flat amount by which the rate specified on the rate card should be reduced for timekeepers that fall under this rule.

Conditions

The rate will be available for selection only when the applied conditions are met.

To add a condition to a rate card:

1. In the Planning Rate Cards node in the Admin Panel, select the appropriate rate card and access the Conditions tab on the right side of the screen.
2. Click the Add button.
3. Fill in the fields on the Add Record screen, using the table below as a reference. When finished, click Save.

Rule Type	Description
Condition	The rate card will be available for selection only to the selected category
Currency	The rate card will be available only for the currency selected here.

Import Rate Cards

Use the following instructions to add rate cards by importing a spreadsheet with rate card information.

1. In the Planning Rate Cards node in the Admin Panel, click the Excel button and select Import. The Excel Import pop-up appears.
2. If you do not already have a spreadsheet prepared, you can click the Download Sample Excel button to download an import template that has the required column headers.
3. Click the Browse button to locate the spreadsheet on your computer.
4. Click Send to add the rate cards to the system.

Import Rates

Use the following instructions to import a spreadsheet of rate information for a rate card that already exists in the system.

1. In the Planning Rate Cards node in the Admin Panel, select the appropriate rate card and access the Rates tab on the right side of the screen.
2. Click the Excel button and select Import. The Excel Import pop-up appears.
3. If you do not already have a spreadsheet prepared, you can click the Download Sample Excel button to download an import template that has the required column headers.
4. Click the Browse button to locate the spreadsheet on your computer.
5. Click Send to add the rates to the system.