How to Configure Rate Cards for Your Clients

A rate card tells Agency Accelerator what to charge a client for a worker. It is set per agency branch and client site, and covers each worker type and skill set you supply to that site. When a job is booked, the platform uses the rate card to price it, split it across day, night, weekend and holiday rates where needed, and carry the right charge through to the invoice.

Every client needs at least one rate card before they can be activated. In practice you will usually have several: one for each worker type you supply, and often different ones for different sites.

Before you begin

• The client needs at least one site. Rate cards are set per site. See How to set up a new client.
• Agree the rates with the client first. You need the hourly or fixed rates for each worker type, and any enhanced rates for nights, weekends and holidays.
• Set the client's special rate times. When a night or weekend rate starts and ends is set per site in the client's Settings, not on the rate card. See Managing & Updating Client Settings.
• Check each site's VAT treatment. The site's VAT setting decides whether VAT is added to the final charge rate. See How to set up a new client.

Finding a client's rate cards

1. Select Clients in the left hand menu and open the client.
2. Select the £ icon in the column of icons beside the profile. The Rate Card panel opens.

The panel lists the client's rate cards, with:

• Rate ID, for example CL-RC-2026-AA-00372
• Agency Location, the branch the rate card belongs to
• Sites it applies to
• Effective Date, when it starts
• No of Policies, the cancellation policies on it
• No of Rates, the rates set on it
• Status, for example Effective Now
• View to open it

A rate card you have just added shows a New label.

Filtering the list

Use Select Agency Location and Select Site to narrow the list, then select Search. Select Clear all filter to see everything again.

Tick Only Show Superseded to see older rate cards that have been replaced. They are kept so that past jobs are still priced at the rates that applied at the time.

Understanding rate types

A rate card can hold several rate types for the same worker type. You only need to fill in the ones the client has agreed to.

The day and night windows are the times set for the site in the client's Settings, for example a weekday day rate from 08:00 to 19:59.

Which rate wins

If more than one rate could apply, the platform uses the most specific one. Holiday rates take priority over everything else. Next come the Friday night, weekend and weekday rates. The general Night Rate is used only if no more specific night rate is set. If none of these is set, the platform falls back to the Normal Rate.

Please note: A rate you leave blank falls back to the next one down, eventually reaching the Normal Rate. If a client has agreed a Friday night premium and you do not set it, Friday night shifts are charged at a lower rate. Set every rate the client has agreed.

Shifts that cross a boundary

When a shift crosses from one window into another, the platform splits it automatically and charges each part at the right rate. For example, a shift from Friday 18:00 to Saturday 06:00 might be charged at the weekday day rate until 20:00, the Friday night rate until midnight, and the weekend night rate after that. Each part appears as its own line on the invoice and the worker's payslip.

Creating a rate card

1. Open the client's Rate Card panel and select Add new. The Add New Rate window opens. It has three steps: Rates Overview, Add Rates and Cancellation Policy.

Step 1: Rates Overview

1. Under Select Agency Branch, choose the branch that supplies this client.
2. Under Select Client Site, choose the site this rate card is for. The site name shows whether it is VAT or Non VAT, which is a useful check before you set charge rates.
3. Select Continue.

Step 2: Add Rates

Rates are added one worker type at a time.

1. Under Select Worker Type, choose the worker type, for example Support Worker or Healthcare Assistant.
2. Under Select Rate Category, choose the category, for example General Rate.
3. Under Rate Type, choose Hourly Rate for shift based billing, or Fixed Rate for set arrangements such as sleep ins.
4. Under Select Skills, choose the skills this rate applies to, for example NVQ L2 or NVQ L3.
5. In the table of rates, tick each rate type the client has agreed. Normal Rate is ticked to start with.
6. For each ticked rate, enter the Est Worker Rate and your Margin. The platform calculates the Agency VAT and the Final Charge Rate, shown both VAT and Non VAT.
7. Select Save. You will see "Selected rates added to list" and the rates appear in the Rate breakdown table below.
8. Repeat for each worker type you supply to this site.

The Rate breakdown table shows each Worker Type, its Skills, Rate Type, Rate Category and No of Rates. Use the pencil icon to change a row, or the bin icon to remove it. Select Clear All to clear the rates you are entering before you save them.

When you have added every worker type, select Save at the bottom to move on.

Tip: Check the skills carefully. A rate set for NVQ L2 will not apply to a worker with NVQ L3. If you supply both at the same price, select both skills on the same row.

Step 3: Cancellation Policy

Set the fee the client pays if they cancel a shift at short notice. See How to set up cancellation policies in rate cards for the full detail.

1. Choose a notice window under Before Job Start, for example 4 hours.
2. Enter the Cancellation fee percentage.
3. Select Add Policy.
4. Select Skip & Submit to save the rate card. If the client has no cancellation fees, you can select it without adding a policy.

You will see "Rate Card saved successfully." and the rate card appears in the list with a New label.

Changing rates

Rates change, usually once a year. Rather than overwriting a rate card, the platform keeps each version, so past jobs stay priced at the rates that applied when they were worked.

1. Open the client's Rate Card panel.
2. Select View on the rate card you want to change.
3. Make your changes and save.

When a rate card is replaced by a newer one, the older version is marked as superseded. Tick Only Show Superseded to see it.

Please note: Changing a rate card does not reprice jobs that have already been worked and processed. Agree the date new rates start with the client, and make the change before that date.

Good habits worth adopting

• Set every agreed rate, not just the normal rate. Missing premiums are the most common cause of undercharging.
• Set special rate times before the first job. Without them, the platform cannot tell a night shift from a day shift for that site.
• Use the VAT label on the site as a sanity check. If a site shows Non VAT but the client is VAT registered, check the site's VAT setting before you finalise charges.
• Keep one rate card per site and branch where you can. It makes the list easier to read and harder to get wrong.

If something looks wrong

A job has been charged at the normal rate instead of a premium. Check that the premium rate is ticked on the rate card and that the site's special rate times cover the shift's start time. See Managing & Updating Client Settings.

A worker has no rate for a job. Check that the rate card covers their worker type and skills, and the site the job is at.

VAT looks wrong on a charge. Check the site's Site VAT Configuration in Site Management.

You cannot activate the client. The client needs at least one rate card. Add one and the Activate Client button appears.

If something still does not look right, contact our Support Team with the client's name, reference number and the Rate ID.