Choosing how cost rates display
You can choose whether the costs that display in Polaris are based on user cost rates or the cost rates for the roles assigned when users complete work.
User Cost Rate
- If you choose the user cost rate option, all costs will be calculated based on the loaded user cost rates saved on the user’s Billing & Costs tab in user profiles.
- For example, you could deploy 5 resources at $70/hour and five other resources at $100/hour.
Role Cost Rate
- If you choose the role cost rate option, all costs will be calculated based on the roles users are assigned when they perform work. Role rates, defined in the Cost section at Administration > Project Roles, are typically the average cost rate for that role, for your organization.
- For example, you could deploy 10 developers at a blanket cost of $70 / hour. Five of them could normally cost you $85 / hour.
Organizations often choose role-based costing so project and resource managers aren’t biased when assigning resources, based on their individual rates.
To define the cost rates:
- Go to the Administration > Projects > Project Roles.
- Click the link for Display Costs Based on.
- In the Resource Cost Mode dialog that displays, choose either User Cost Rates or Role Cost Rates.
- Click Save.
The display mode you chose will be used for all cost-related data in Polaris, including costing, profit, and report data. However, both role cost rates and user cost rates are available in reports, for comparison.
FAQs
Can this setting be changed?
This setting is a one time global policy for the company and is not meant to be changed. If changed, all data will update to use the new setting.