Charge Rules
Guide to configuring charge rules and billing rates in NetSuite.
Charge Rules Overview
CHARGE RULES FLOW
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
SOURCE CHARGE RULE CHARGE INVOICE
────── ─────────── ────── ───────
Time Entry ────► Time-Based ────► Project Charge ───► Invoice
Expense Report ───► Expense-Based ────► Project Charge ───► Invoice
Purchase/Bill ────► Purchase-Based ───► Project Charge ───► Invoice
Schedule/Date ────► Fixed Fee ────► Project Charge ───► Invoice
Milestone ────► Milestone ────► Project Charge ───► Invoice
Types of Charge Rules
Summary
| Type | Trigger | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Time-Based | Approved time entries | T&M projects |
| Expense-Based | Approved expenses | Billable travel |
| Fixed Fee | Date/schedule/milestone | Retainers |
| Purchase-Based | PO/Vendor Bill | Pass-through costs |
Time-Based Charge Rules
Configuration
TIME-BASED CHARGE RULE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Navigation: Customization > Charge-Based Billing >
Charge Rules > New
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Charge Rule Name: Consulting Time │
│ Type: Time-Based │
│ │
│ Charge From: Approved Time Entries │
│ Billing Item: Consulting Services │
│ │
│ Rate Source: │
│ ○ Employee Default Rate │
│ ○ Billing Rate Card │
│ ● Project Rate (use rate on project) │
│ │
│ Rate: $150.00/hour │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Rate Hierarchy
RATE SELECTION HIERARCHY
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
NetSuite checks rates in order:
1. Billing Rate Card (customer-specific)
↓ If not found
2. Employee's Price Rate
↓ If not found
3. Service Item Rate
↓ If not found
4. Charge Rule Default Rate
Expense-Based Charge Rules
Configuration
EXPENSE-BASED CHARGE RULE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Charge Rule Name: Billable Expenses │
│ Type: Expense-Based │
│ │
│ Charge From: Approved Expense Reports │
│ │
│ Markup/Markdown: │
│ ☑ Apply markup │
│ Markup Percent: 15% │
│ │
│ Categories Included: │
│ ☑ Travel │
│ ☑ Meals │
│ ☑ Lodging │
│ ☐ Mileage (separate rule) │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Markup Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| No Markup | Bill at cost |
| Percentage | Cost + X% |
| Fixed Amount | Cost + $X |
| Markdown | Cost - X% (e.g., discounts) |
Fixed Fee Charge Rules
Schedule-Based
SCHEDULED FIXED FEE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Use Case: Monthly retainer
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Charge Rule Name: Monthly Retainer Fee │
│ Type: Fixed Fee │
│ │
│ Trigger: Scheduled Date │
│ Schedule: Monthly, 1st of month │
│ │
│ Amount: $5,000/month │
│ Billing Item: Retainer Services │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Percent Complete-Based
PERCENT COMPLETE FIXED FEE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Use Case: Fixed price project, bill as work progresses
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Charge Rule Name: Fixed Price - Progress Billing │
│ Type: Fixed Fee │
│ │
│ Trigger: Percent Complete │
│ Total Amount: $50,000 │
│ │
│ Billing Logic: │
│ Each period: Bill (Current % - Previous %) × Total │
│ │
│ Example: │
│ End Jan: 25% × $50,000 = $12,500 │
│ End Feb: (50% - 25%) × $50,000 = $12,500 │
│ End Mar: (75% - 50%) × $50,000 = $12,500 │
│ End Apr: (100% - 75%) × $50,000 = $12,500 │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Milestone-Based
MILESTONE FIXED FEE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Use Case: Bill at milestone completion
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Charge Rule Name: Milestone Billing │
│ Type: Fixed Fee │
│ │
│ Trigger: Milestone Completion │
│ │
│ Billing Schedule: │
│ Milestone % Amount │
│ ───────── ─ ────── │
│ Requirements Complete 20% $10,000 │
│ Design Complete 30% $15,000 │
│ Development Complete 35% $17,500 │
│ Go-Live 15% $7,500 │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ Total 100% $50,000 │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Purchase-Based Charge Rules
Configuration
PURCHASE-BASED CHARGE RULE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Use Case: Pass-through vendor costs
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Charge Rule Name: Software Licenses │
│ Type: Purchase-Based │
│ │
│ Charge From: Purchase Orders / Vendor Bills │
│ │
│ Markup: 10% │
│ │
│ Item Types Included: │
│ ☑ Non-Inventory Items │
│ ☑ Service Items │
│ ☐ Inventory Items (exclude) │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Billing Rate Cards
Creating Rate Cards
BILLING RATE CARD
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Navigation: Lists > Billing > Billing Rate Cards > New
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Rate Card Name: ABC Company Rates │
│ Customer: ABC Company Inc. │
│ │
│ Rates: │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Billing Class Service Item Rate │ │
│ │ ───────────── ──────────── ──── │ │
│ │ Senior Consultant Consulting Services $200/hour │ │
│ │ Consultant Consulting Services $150/hour │ │
│ │ Analyst Consulting Services $100/hour │ │
│ │ Developer Development Services $175/hour │ │
│ │ Project Manager PM Services $180/hour │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Rate Card Hierarchy
RATE CARD LOOKUP
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Project PRJ-00125
Customer: ABC Company
Employee: John Smith (Billing Class: Senior Consultant)
Rate Lookup:
1. Check for ABC Company rate card → Found!
2. Look up Senior Consultant rate → $200/hour
Result: John Smith billed at $200/hour for this project
Standard Rate Card
STANDARD RATE CARD
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Rate Card Type: Standard (no specific customer)
Uses:
• Default rates for new customers
• Fallback when customer-specific not defined
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Billing Class Standard Rate │
│ ───────────── ───────────── │
│ Senior Consultant $175/hour │
│ Consultant $125/hour │
│ Analyst $85/hour │
│ Developer $150/hour │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Rate Overrides
Project-Level Override
PROJECT RATE OVERRIDE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Project: PRJ-00125
Task: Emergency Support
Override:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Rate Override: $250/hour │
│ │
│ Apply to: │
│ ○ All employees on this task │
│ ● Specific employees │
│ │
│ Override Reason: After-hours premium rate │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Time Entry Override
TIME ENTRY RATE OVERRIDE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Employee can override rate at time of entry:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Hours: 4 │
│ Rate: $200 (default) │
│ │
│ ☑ Override Rate │
│ New Rate: $175 (discounted rate) │
│ Reason: Good will discount per agreement │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Note: May require permission/approval
Assigning Rules to Projects
Project Charge Rules
ASSIGN CHARGE RULES TO PROJECT
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Project Record > Charge Rules Subtab
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Charge Rules for PRJ-00125 │
│ │
│ ☑ Consulting Time (Time-Based) │
│ ☑ Billable Expenses (Expense-Based) │
│ ☑ Software Licenses (Purchase-Based) │
│ ☐ Monthly Retainer (not applicable) │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Best Practices
Charge Rule Configuration
| Practice | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Naming | Clear, descriptive names |
| Defaults | Set sensible defaults |
| Rate Cards | Customer-specific where needed |
| Markup | Consistent markup policies |
| Testing | Test before go-live |
Common Issues
| Issue | Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong rate used | Rate card priority | Check hierarchy |
| No charge created | Rule not assigned | Assign to project |
| Missing charges | Time not approved | Approve time entries |
| Duplicate charges | Multiple rules overlap | Review rule scope |
Related Topics
- Time & Expense - Time entry
- Project Billing - Invoice generation
- Project Costing - Cost tracking