Setting an individual rate outside of the Rate Matrix

[Anon Anon]

We have a lot of contractors that come and go, some have the same role, but different rates.  Is there a way to set a rate on an individual basis instead of using the rate matrix? We'd like to set a rate at the resource level so that it can be set once by a Resource Manager instead of having our Clarity admin constantly creating resource rates in the Rate Matrix. 

 

Part 2 of this question if the above isn't possible: Can a rate for a resource be set within a project?   We do use Cost Plan, Benefit Plans, Budget Plan and Transactions.

 

I do know that on the Resource - Application side, under the Resource - Properties - Financial subtab you can mark a resource financially active and also enter a Target Billing Rate.  When I did that and the PM created a Cost Plan, the Cost Total for that resource was $1/hour instead of $85/hr that we set in the resource Target Billing Rate.  The reason it was $1/hr was because we have a few "catch all" Matrix rows set at $1 if a resource only matches on the resource class in the Rate Matrix.

 

 

Thanks,

Garrett

[Legacy User]

Hi Garrett,

instead of putting an * on the resource column add the resource name.  THis will supersede the wild card.

meaning if you have contractor as the role or Resource class, you can also add a line for each individual resource and it will take that rate for them.

Hope this helps

Federico

[Anon Anon]

Hi Frederico,

 

I am aware of that option but my company would prefer to set the rate somewhere else other than the rate matrix for all these contractors.  I only know of the Rate Matrix as a place to do this, but was hoping someone else might know of something else.

 

Garrett

[Deactivated User]

I think that will give the rate as needed once set, but you need the admin to do that if you do not want give every resource manager the right to manage matrix. That was the other part of the chaleenge.

[Deactivated User]

I don't think you can do the rates anywhere other than the matrix to have it utilized everywhere where Clarity users rates. So that is it.

As Federico points out you could have the rate base on Resource class or role which you can pick on the application side for the contractors.

That is after those exist on the admin side :-(

[Anon Anon]

Thanks Urmas for your feedback.

 

From what I understand, the only way to set a rate for a resource is through the rate matrix.

 

What I don't understand is if that's true then what's the Rates and Cost section on the Resource Financial Properties (screen in my original post) tab for?  I read the Resource Management User Guide and it didn't give a whole lot of detail on this section.  The only it talked about was the Target % Billable field  stating  "Refers to the percentage of the targeted billing rate that is billable. Enter the target percentage billable for this resource, if applicable."

 

 

Thanks,

Garrett

[Deactivated User]

I have not idea how that data is used other than to be informative for the manager who is picking resources for projects. If that is keep up to date then that is the only place where a manager without admin access can have an idea of the cost/rate of a resource.

[KISMET.SILVA-SMITH]

I just confirmed with a colleague that the Target Billing Rate is for reporting/informational. Garrett how about a work around where you ask your project managers to enter the value instead (it may not be the best solution but you'll have the values captured correctly). Maybe submit this idea as an enhancement.

[Anon Anon]

Hi Kismit!

 

Good to hear from you!  I missed you by a couple days at Flagstar.  I started the week after you finished training.

 

Thanks for the info on the Target Billing Rate.  For your work around are you referring to having the PM's create the matrix rows themselves?  If so, I've already discussed this option and we don't want to have the PM's having access to the rate matrix.

 

Garrett

[Anon Anon]

Hi Kismet,

 

Thanks for your suggestion.  We actually decided to create a Contractor rate matrix for the PM's to enter the rates needed for each contractor resource.

 

Garrett

[Atul.Kunkulol]

Hello Garret

 

Here are a few ideas to consider -

1. You could certainly maintain the rates somewhere else for individual resources and have a nightly process which will XOG in the new rates to the Rate Matrix. It does take a bit to perfect this process but works fine. This is a common requirement for companies which maintain resource and contractor information in HR systems like Peoplesoft or Kronos or may have a lot of turnover.

2. Can the rates be set within a project?  YES. It is possible to do this. I have come across a similar requirement for a client where the rates for every single project could be different on what percent of rate discount is offered to their end customer. The way to approach this would be to manage a custom field on the project or team. If there is value in this custom field, then create a new rate matrix through GEL/XOG and associate that to the project. The downside of this approach is that you will end up with several hundred rate matrices depending on how many projects have project specific rates. The projects which do not have exceptions can continue using the default rate matrix.

I have implemented this and the client has a small dataset and has not experienced any performance issues. You will have to test this well in your env. But once setup works like a charm.

 

Let me know if you need more info on these approaches.

[Anon Anon]

Hello Atul,

 

Thanks for your response.  I am interested in your first point and would like more info on this approach.  For #2 we don't want multiple rate matrices.

 

For your first point, I have a few questions but let me state what I understand we could do:  We could pull data out of an HR system or create a new field in Clarity with a record profile and enter the rate there. There would be a nightly process that will pull new rates to the Rate Matrix.  Will this process create new Matrix rows in the Rate Matrix or will it just update a matrix row if the resources rate has been updated?

 

For example: 

Contractor A has just been hired. Their rate is entered in the new field on the Resource - Main - General - Properties tab of Contractor A.  A nightly job runs and notices that Contractor A is not in the Rate Matrix and will create a new matrix row including the From and To Date, Resource Name and the Rate.  Is that correct?

 

Also, could this same process also delete the Matrix Row when Contractor A no longer works for the company?  Would this process only include a XOG process or would GEL or anything else also be involved?

 

 

Thanks,

Garrett

[Atul.Kunkulol]

Garrett

 

Sorry for the late reply. Rate Matrix XOG is all or nothing. So you will have to rebuild the matrix everytime you want that XOG'ed in.

Couple approaches you can think of -

1. Rebuild it by going back to the source

2. XOGging out the current Rate Matrix XOG XML in gel script and then adding the new rows or removing them through gel commands in the script. And lastly XOGing it back in.

 

Test it well in non-prod before implementing.

[Anon Anon]

Thanks Atul!

[Viraj Khara]

I was going through this post and thought of adding the solution what product has introduced in their latest version.

With latest version of the product, You can add only the rows which you want to append. Earlier option of ALL or Nothing has been also there along with appending new columns to the existing rows as well.

This will be drive using the "incremental flag" in the matrix xog.

[Deactivated User]

Would that be 15.6.1 or earlier?

[Kathryn Ellis]

The incremental addition of matrix rows through XOG was introduced in version 15.4
Please refer to the Release Comparison chart in the documentation 
search for : Incremental Rate Matrix XOG Updates and Inserts

[Deactivated User]

Thanks
That Release comparison is good while functionality is under development. Just have to to try to remember it is is there.

[Gaurav Gupta]

I echo with Atul. ​He gave the best possible solutions.