TL;DR
Billing rates in Plutio let freelancers and agencies assign different hourly rates to each team member, each project, and each service category, so every time entry carries the correct billable amount and internal cost automatically.
Plutio calculates billing amounts and cost amounts in real time as time is tracked, with no manual lookups or spreadsheet formulas. The rate hierarchy flows from person to category to project: a project-level rate overrides individual rates when set, and category-specific rates override default person rates when a category is selected. The result: every time entry in the timesheet shows both what to bill the client and what the entry actually costs internally, so profit per project is visible before the invoice goes out.
Billing rates are available on all Plutio plans, including the 7-day free trial. Set default rates in Settings under Time Tracking, assign project-level rates inside any project, and create categories with custom rates from the same settings page. According to YunoJuno's 2024 report, the average freelancer day rate sits at $390, but that number means nothing if different services and team members aren't tracked at their actual rates.
What billing rates are
Billing rates are the hourly dollar amounts assigned to time entries that determine how much a client gets charged and how much the work actually costs the business internally. In Plutio, every time entry carries two rates: a billing rate (what the client pays) and a cost rate (the internal expense). The difference between the two is the margin on that entry.
When a team member starts a timer or logs time manually, Plutio looks up the correct billing rate and cost rate based on three inputs: who is tracking (the person's default rate), which project the entry belongs to (the project's hourly rate, if one is set), and which timesheet category is selected (the category's rate, if assigned). The rate that applies depends on which level has a value set, with project-level rates taking priority when configured.
Person-level billing rates and cost rates
Each team member in Plutio has a default billing rate and cost rate set in their profile under Time Tracking. These rates apply to every time entry that person creates unless a project rate or category rate overrides them. For a solo freelancer, the person-level billing rate is the standard hourly rate charged to clients. For agencies with multiple team members, each person carries their own rate: a senior developer at $150/hour and a project coordinator at $65/hour, both tracked accurately without manual adjustments per entry.
Category-level rate overrides
Timesheet categories in Plutio organize time entries by type of work: design, development, consulting, admin, and any custom labels the business creates. Each category can carry its own billing rate and cost rate. When a team member selects a category while logging time, the category's rates override that person's defaults. A designer who normally bills $120/hour might bill strategy sessions at $175/hour by selecting a "Strategy" category with a higher rate. Categories are created in Settings under Time Tracking and assigned to individual team members from the same page.
Project-level fixed rates
A project in Plutio can have a fixed hourly billing rate that applies to all time tracked on that project, regardless of who tracks the time. When a project-level rate is set, individual team member rates are overridden for entries on that project. The UI shows a notice on each time entry: "This time entry will use the billing rate given to the project, unless specified otherwise." Project-level rates are useful for fixed-rate client agreements where every hour billed carries the same dollar amount. The practical benefit of the rate hierarchy: rates cascade automatically from person to category to project, so the correct amount shows up on every time entry without anyone doing math or remembering which rate to use.
Setting different rates per category changed how I price projects. I used to charge one flat rate for everything, but now design, strategy, and admin all bill at different amounts and the timesheet does the math.
Why billing rates matter for freelancers
Without rate-level tracking, a timesheet shows hours but hides how much each project actually earns. Two 40-hour projects look identical in a time report even when one bills at $150/hour and the other at $60/hour, so the difference between a $6,000 project and a $2,400 project is invisible until invoicing.
Freelancers who bill different rates for different services, such as $100/hour for design and $175/hour for consulting, end up with time reports that don't match their invoices. The workaround is a spreadsheet that maps hours to rates manually, which adds 15 to 30 minutes per invoice and introduces errors every time a rate changes mid-project. Agencies with 5 or more team members multiply that problem: each person's rate, each project's agreed rate, and each service type's rate all need manual reconciliation before a single invoice line item is accurate.
Time tracking tools like Harvest let users set rates at the person, project, or task level, but Harvest's rate limits prevent combining two rate types on a single project. A project uses person rates or task rates, not both. The restriction forces workarounds like creating duplicate tasks named after team members to simulate per-person pricing within a task-rate project. Toggl Track locks billable rates behind its Starter plan at $10/user/month and does not include cost rate tracking until the Premium tier, so freelancers on the free plan track time with no billing amounts at all.
The most expensive outcome is not a billing error on one invoice but a pattern of undercharging that goes unnoticed for months. When every hour looks the same in a time report, the services that deserve higher rates get billed at the default, and the margin difference compounds across every project.
I discovered I had been undercharging strategy sessions for months because everything was tracked at my default rate. Setting category rates in Plutio fixed that overnight and added $800 a month in revenue I was leaving on the table.
Plutio's approach attaches both a billing rate and a cost rate to every time entry at the moment it is created, so the timesheet doubles as a margin report. No reconciliation step, no spreadsheet, and no gap between tracked time and invoiced amounts.
How billing rates work in Plutio
Set default rates per person in Settings, add category-specific rates for different service types, and optionally assign a fixed project rate that overrides everything.
Before starting, make sure time tracking is enabled in Settings under General. Billing rates and cost rates appear in the Time Tracking settings section and on each project's settings.
Step by step
- Step 1: Go to Settings, then Time Tracking. Under "My billable rates," enter a default billing rate and cost rate. These rates apply to all time entries unless overridden by a category or project rate.
- Step 2: Create timesheet categories under "Timesheet categories" in the same settings page. Give each category a name (e.g., Design, Development, Consulting), a billing rate, and a cost rate. Assign categories to individual team members so they appear in the category dropdown when logging time.
- Step 3: To set a project-level rate, open the project, go to project settings, and enter a value in the "Hourly rate" field. All time tracked on that project uses this rate. Plutio asks whether the new rate should apply to previously tracked entries or only new ones.
- Step 4: Start a timer or create a manual time entry. The billing rate and cost rate fields auto-populate based on the rate hierarchy: project rate first, then category rate, then person default. The entry form shows both rates with the calculated billing amount and cost amount based on duration.
- Step 5: Review the timesheet. Each entry shows the billing rate, cost rate, billing amount, and cost amount. Filter by billing status (paid, unpaid, invoiced, non-billable) and switch between Billing view, Costs view, and Full view to see the numbers from different angles.
Practical tip: when changing a project's hourly rate, Plutio shows a prompt asking whether to apply the new rate to all existing time entries on that project or only to new entries going forward. Choose "only new entries" to preserve historical billing accuracy on entries already invoiced.
Who needs billing rates
Freelancers billing more than one service type and agencies with team members at different rate levels get the most out of per-entry billing rates.
A freelance web developer who charges $130/hour for front-end development, $175/hour for technical consulting, and $80/hour for maintenance support needs each service tracked at its own rate. Without category-level rates, every hour goes into the timesheet at one flat number and the developer manually adjusts line items on each invoice. On 20 billable hours per week split across three rate tiers, that manual adjustment adds up to 1 to 2 hours per month in invoicing overhead and introduces the risk of billing consulting hours at the maintenance rate.
Agencies running projects with mixed teams, such as a senior designer at $150/hour and a junior coordinator at $55/hour on the same project, need person-level rates that follow each team member across every entry. A fixed project rate works when the agency bills a blended rate to the client, but person-level rates are necessary for internal cost tracking and margin analysis. The timesheet's Costs view shows whether a project's internal cost is running above or below the billed amount, which matters on fixed-fee projects where the agency absorbs overruns.
Freelancers exploring Harvest alternatives often look for a tool that allows person rates and category rates on the same project without workarounds. Plutio's rate hierarchy handles both: each team member carries default rates, categories override those defaults when selected, and a project-level rate overrides everything when set. Freelancers switching from Toggl alternatives find that Plutio includes billing rates and cost rates on all plans, including the free trial, with no plan-gated restrictions on rate features.
Bottom line: any freelancer or agency tracking time across more than one rate tier, whether by service type, team member seniority, or client agreement, needs per-entry billing rates to keep invoices accurate and margins visible.
