At Float, you can set up two types of rates: cost rates and bill rates. While setting them up is optional, doing so allows you to move beyond scheduling and into real financial visibility. Together, they give you a complete picture of how profitable your work actually is—not just how busy your team is.
Cost rates reflect the costs your business incurs to employ people, including salaries and overhead expenses.
They are used to calculate the actual cost of delivering projects and help you understand overall project profitability. Unlike bill rates, cost rates are internal-facing and often contain sensitive salary information.
Setting up cost rates in Float helps you:
Calculate project delivery costs
Track profit margins
Maintain historical accuracy when rates change
Plan for promotions or future rate adjustments
Cost rates access and visibility
Access to cost rates depends on user permissions:
Account Owner and Admins can view and manage all cost rates.
Managers can be granted permission to:
View cost rates
View project profitability
Members cannot see rates.
You can review exactly who has access to cost rates in Team settings > Roles & rates > Who can see rates.
💡 Here's a tip: Cost rates often contain sensitive salary information. Grant access carefully.
Cost rates are directly visible in:
- In Team settings > Roles & rates (role cost rates),
- In the Info tab of each person's profile (personal cost rates),
- On the Project view (personal cost rates) - can be hidden using the data visibility menu.
On the reports, cost rates can be calculated based on the scheduled time and scheduled costs.
Cost rates hierarchy
Cost rates follow a simple hierarchy: Role cost rate → Person cost rate.
Role cost rate is the default rate assigned to a role.
Person cost rate overrides the role cost rate.
📝Note: Cost rates apply consistently across all projects. They do not vary by project or phase.
Cost rates at the role level
Account Owners and Admins can set and manage role cost rates in Team settings > Roles & rates. When role cost rates are set, any new person assigned to that role automatically inherits the role’s cost rate.
Add a new role with a cost rate
Go to Team settings > Roles & rates
Click Add to create a new role
Enter the hourly cost rate in the Cost rate field
Click Save
Set a cost rate for an existing role
Go to Team settings > Roles & rates
Select an existing role
Enter the hourly cost rate in the Cost rate field
Click Save
Update the cost rate for an existing role
Go to Team settings > Roles & rates
Select an existing role
Enter the new hourly cost rate in the Cost rate field
Choose the effective date:
All past and future days, or
Apply from a specific date onward
Click Update rates
Cost rate effective dates
Cost rates support point-in-time effective dates. This ensures accurate historical reporting and allows you to schedule future changes. When updating a cost rate, you can apply the rate to All past and future days, or to A specific date onward. This allows you to:
Apply a rate in the past (for historical reporting)
Apply it today
Schedule a rate change in the future (for example, for promotions)
Example:
$70/hr effective April 1
$50/hr effective June 1
Float applies:
$70 from April 1–May 31
$50 from June 1 onward
The displayed cost rate always reflects the rate that applies today. Use View changes to review or delete historical entries.
📝Note: If you add a past rate but already have a future rate saved, the future rate will still take effect when its date arrives.
Cost rates at the person level
Anyone with permission to edit people can set and manage personal cost rates in the Info tab of each person’s profile. If a role is assigned and has a cost rate, the person inherits that rate by default unless a custom rate is applied.
Add a personal cost rate (no role assigned)
Open the person’s profile
Enter the hourly cost rate
Click Save
Update a personal cost rate (no role assigned)
Open the person’s profile
Enter the new hourly cost rate
Choose the effective date:
All past and future days, or
Apply from a specific date onward
Click Update person
If the effective date overlaps existing allocations, historical project cost calculations will update accordingly.
Assign a role and inherit the role cost rate
If cost rates are set at the role level, a person automatically inherits the role’s cost rate when a role is assigned.
To assign a role:
Open the person’s profile
Select the role
Confirm the inherited cost rate
Click Update person (or Add person if new)
You can keep the inherited role rate or set a custom personal cost rate.
Override an inherited role rate
To override the inherited role rate:
Open the person’s profile
Enter the new hourly cost rate
Choose the effective date:
All past and future days, or
Apply from a specific date onward
Click Update person
The inherited role rate appears with a strikethrough once overridden. If the effective date overlaps existing allocations, historical project cost calculations will update accordingly. Use View changes to review or delete historical entries.
Role changes impact on cost rates
When changing a person’s role, you must choose an effective date:
Apply from a specific date onward
Apply to all past and future days
If the person has a custom personal cost rate set, you can choose to:
Keep the existing personal rates
Apply the new role’s default rates
All changes are tracked under View changes. Deleted entries revert to the last known rate unless explicitly removed. Changes are not saved until you click Update person.
Bulk Editing Cost Rates
Bulk edit role cost rates
Go to Team settings > Roles & rates
Select one or more roles
Click Edit
Choose Cost rate
Enter the new rate and select the effective date
Click Save
Bulk edit personal cost rates
Go to the People page
Select one or more people
Click Edit
Choose Cost rate
Select one of the following:
Set custom rate and enter the rate + effective date
Inherit role rate and select the effective date
Click Update
Additional notes
You can use our CSV import option to upload cost rates for your team members.