Understanding 'Rate Invoiced Per Hour' in Hiro

Article Contents

1. Introduction
2. Work Schedules in Hiro: Where This Fits
3. Why Use a Fixed Rate?
4. How to Configure
5. Work Schedule Templates
6. Projects Dashboard: WIP at Fixed Rates Column
7. Reports
8. Viewing Fixed Rates Within a Project
9. Invoicing with Fixed Rates

Introduction

The Rate Invoiced Per Hour setting in Hiro controls how time is invoiced on Time Charge subtasks — it does not affect how time is costed or expensed internally.

You can choose between two options for each subtask:

• Person’s Rate – uses the standard charge rate assigned to the staff member who logged the timesheet.

• Fixed Rate – uses a consistent hourly rate defined on the subtask, regardless of who performed the work.

This gives you flexibility in how you present and structure your invoices without compromising internal profitability reporting. Most of this article focuses on the Fixed Rate option, which offers additional tools for managing billing consistency across reporting, invoicing, and project analysis.

Work Schedules in Hiro: Where This Fits

Work Schedules in Hiro are structured in three levels:

• Phase (top level)

• Task (middle level)

• Subtask (lowest level)

Each Task has a Billing Type, such as Time Charge or Fixed Fee. The Rate Invoiced Per Hour setting is only relevant for Time Charge tasks and is configured at the Subtask level.

This is distinct from the Fixed Fee Billing Type, which applies to the entire task and bills based on a set amount regardless of hours worked. In contrast, the Fixed Rate on a Time Charge subtask still uses actual hours worked, but at a consistent hourly rate rather than the assigned person's rate.

For an overview of how Work Schedules and Billing Types fit together, see:

• What is a Work Schedule?

• Work Schedule Tasks – Billing Types

Why Use a Fixed Rate?

Fixed Rates provide a practical way to manage how you bill for time without affecting your internal costing metrics. They’re ideal in scenarios such as:

• You've agreed on a set hourly fee for certain work regardless of who does it.

• You want to remove variation caused by different staff rates.

• You're quoting a unit rate externally and want internal consistency when billing.

Importantly, using a Fixed Rate for invoicing does not overwrite the person’s charge rate used for internal reporting. Hiro continues to track time against each staff member’s standard charge rate for:

• Project analytics comparing revenue and expense

• Billing ratio insights when invoicing

This makes it especially useful in situations where your project fee structure includes an upfront discount — for example, charging a reduced hourly rate at the start of a job, with the expectation of recovering margin later. You still benefit from Hiro’s real-time performance metrics based on the true cost of labour, even if invoicing happens at a different (fixed) rate.

How to Configure

This setting is available on Time Charge subtasks, where you can select how Hiro should calculate the invoiced amount. For each subtask, choose either:

• Person’s Rate – the default option, using the staff member’s assigned charge rate.

• Fixed Rate – a consistent hourly rate you manually define on the subtask.

Each subtask can be configured independently, so it’s possible to mix and match rate types and amounts within the same task.

You can configure this setting:

• When first lodging the job, under the Work Schedule section.

• Later via Edit Project Details > Work Schedule tab.

Work Schedule Templates

Work Schedule Templates also support this setting. By pre-configuring subtasks with Fixed Rates on your templates, you can:

• Ensure consistency across projects.

• Save time when setting up new jobs.

🔗 Learn more about Work Schedule Templates

Projects Dashboard: WIP at Fixed Rates Column

You can compare Work in Progress (WIP) based on fixed rates via an optional column:

1. Go to the Projects Dashboard.

2. Click the Columns button at the top.

3. Locate "WIP at Fixed Rates" in the column list.

4. Use the checkbox to enable it.

5. Drag using the grab handle to reorder.

6. Click Save to confirm your preferences.

Column settings are per-user, so customising your view won’t impact others.

Key difference:

• WIP (default column): Shows WIP using the normal charge rate.

• WIP at Fixed Rates: Recalculates time entries attached to Fixed Rate subtasks at that rate; the rest uses the Person’s Rate.

• If no Fixed Rate subtasks exist, both WIP totals will be the same.

Once enabled, the footer of the Projects Dashboard shows two totals:

• Total WIP

• Total WIP (Fixed Rates)

Reports

WIP at Fixed Rates is included in:

• Projects Dashboard > Export to Excel

• Financial > Projects Dashboard Export

These reports always show the recalculated WIP at Fixed Rates column.

Viewing Fixed Rates Within a Project

You can view fixed rate recalculations from within a project:

1. Open the View Project popup.

2. Go to the Time & Costs tab.

3. If any subtask has a Fixed Rate:

   • The "Amount" column becomes "Charge Amount".

   • A new "Fixed Amount" column appears next to it.

The Fixed Amount column shows what the timesheet entry would be charged at the configured Fixed Rate for that subtask.

This lets you easily compare how time entries are calculated and supports transparent, accurate billing.

Invoicing with Fixed Rates

When raising an invoice, each line item represents a subtask from the project's work schedule. The Time & Costs column in the invoice table shows the total WIP on that subtask — calculated at each person's actual charge rate.

If the subtask has a Fixed Rate configured, the Invoiced Amount box (located to the right of the Time & Costs link) will be prepopulated with the total of uninvoiced timesheets on that subtask — calculated as the number of hours per timesheet multiplied by the Fixed Rate. A single subtask can have many associated timesheets, and Hiro totals the hours across all those entries to arrive at the suggested invoice amount.

Click on the Time & Costs link to open the Allocate Time & Costs popup. This is where you can review and confirm the breakdown of time entries allocated to the invoice.

In this view:

• A blue info bar highlights the Fixed Rate set for the subtask.

• The Cost Amount column shows the cost of the time entry at the staff member’s standard charge rate.

• The Inv. Amount column calculates the invoiced value at the Fixed Rate.

Other features:

• Timesheets dated on or before the invoice’s Revenue Date are enabled by default.

• You can include more recent timesheets by ticking them, or remove ones by unticking.

• You can override the quantity of hours invoiced on each row if needed.

• Click Allocate to Line to finalise the line item’s amount on the invoice.