About monthly, daily, and unit-based rates
A monthly rate is a fixed amount a worker is paid each month, regardless of the number of hours or days worked. A daily rate is a fixed amount a worker is paid for each full day that they work. Daily rates are commonly used when workers are compensated per days worked rather than hours.
When an engagement uses a daily rate, the system supports entering time using hours or units of work. Units of work allow workers to record a full day or a portion of a day using predefined increments (1.0, 0.75, 0.50, 0.25). These units are then converted to hours for reporting and auditing purposes.
Daily units of work are only available for engagements that meet all the following criteria:
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Rate Type: Daily
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Timesheet Entry Type: Hours/Units
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The time code is configured as units based
If any of these conditions are not met, workers must enter time using standard hourly entry.
Monthly rates in Professional
While Professional doesn’t yet support entering units like 0.25 day or 0.5 month on timesheets for monthly rates (this is on our roadmap!), here’s how monthly rates are managed:
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Rate setup: The monthly rate is defined on the engagement.
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Invoice frequency: Set to Monthly, which helps align timesheets to calendar months.
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Number of work days: Are determined based on the work schedule and holiday schedule that you set up.
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Workers enter worked hours on their timesheets
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Rate breakdown:
Monthly rate / working days = daily rate (for example $40/day)
Daily rate / hours per day = hourly rate (for example $40 / 8hrs) = $5/hr
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Time entry: Workers enter their worked hours or units of work (not days or months).
When a worker enters units, the system automatically converts entered units to equivalent hours using the engagement’s work schedule. For example, if a worker enters 40hrs, they’re paid the full monthly rate ($1000).
If a worker enters 39hrs, their pay is adjusted accordingly ($1000 – 1hr = $995).
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Reporting: The total is included in timesheet export reports and financial data extracts.
Daily rates in Professional
Daily rate workers now have the option to enter hours or units of work when submitting their timesheets. Daily units of work allow workers and suppliers to enter regular time using units instead of hours. A unit represents a portion of a workday. For example:
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1.0 unit: Full day
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0.75 units: Three quarters of a day
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0.50 units: Half day
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0.25 units: Quarter day
The system converts units to hours using the engagement’s work schedule hours per day. Converted hours are used for:
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Reporting
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Read-only timesheet views
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Approver views
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Invoice calculations
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Auditing
Workers see the converted hours in read-only mode on timesheets. When editing an entry, they see the original units.
Time codes
Time codes determine how workers enter time. For daily-rate engagements, workers must use a time code configured for hours or units of work. Administrators configure time entry mode.
When units of work are enabled:
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Administrators select the unit increments that workers can use (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, or 1.0).
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Any increments that are disabled are hidden from the worker’s units of work drop-down list.
For more information, see Configuring time codes.
Regular time and overtime
Daily units of work apply only to regular time and don’t generate or include overtime. Overtime is defined on an engagement as a fixed hourly rate, not as a multiplier of the bill rate.
Workers can enter both units of work and hours on the same day by using separate time codes:
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Regular time: A daily (units-based) time code
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Overtime: An overtime (hours-based) time code