Finance
Cost categories & rate profiles
Before budgets are easy to build, two pieces of shared setup pay off: cost categories, which group spending, and rate profiles, which save you typing rates.
Cost categories
A cost category classifies budget lines — Crew, Equipment, Catering, Travel. With categories in place, every budget's totals break down the same way, and reports across projects compare like with like.
Rate profiles
A rate profile is a reusable rate — a named amount with a rate type. Apply it to a budget line or to a crew member, and it fills the number in for you; change the profile later and you update it in one place.
A rate type sets how the rate is measured: per hour, per day (the common case for crew), per month, fixed (a flat amount), or per unit (priced by quantity).
Key terms
- Cost category
- A label that groups budget lines — Crew, Equipment, Catering.
- Rate profile
- A reusable, named rate applied to budget lines and crew.
- Rate type
- How a rate is measured: per hour, day, month, fixed, or per unit.
Common questions
Why use cost categories?
They make every budget break down the same way, so totals are consistent and reports across projects compare like with like.
What's a rate profile?
A reusable, named rate. Apply it to a budget line or crew member instead of typing the amount, and update it in one place later.
What rate types are there?
Per hour, per day, per month, fixed, or per unit — so the rate is measured the way the work is priced.