Flat Rate Pay

Flat Rate Pay

What's new?

Aspire now supports flat rate pay, letting you assign a fixed payment amount to specific services. When employees complete a job, they earn the predefined rate, regardless of time spent. Payroll calculations and reports now reflect these fixed pay amounts.

Requirements

Before setting up flat rate pay, ensure you have the necessary permissions:

• Edit Default Pay Codes in Any Stage: Required to modify default pay codes on the opportunity Service Details screen.
• Add/Modify Pay Code Overrides: Required to adjust pay codes as needed.
• View Read-Only Payroll Data: Required to access payroll information without making changes.
• View All Time Permission or My Reports Permission: Required to view the Weekly Time Review screen, which can display both hourly and flat rate pay.

If you do not have the required permissions, contact your system administrator.

Setting up flat rate pay

Define flat rate pay codes

1. Go to Administration > Application > Lists > Pay Code.

2. Select New, then choose Flat Rate as the Pay Code Type.

3. Enter a name and the appropriate code.

   • Ensure the pay code aligns with your payroll system.

4. Save the pay code.

Assign flat rate pay to services

1. Go to Administration > Estimating > Service Catalog. 

2. Create or edit a service to assign a flat rate pay code. 

3. From the Default Pay Code list, select the flat rate pay code you've created. The Flat Rate Pay Per Visit field displays. 

4. Enter the fixed compensation amount for the service in Flat Rate Pay Per Visit, and select Save.

5. When adding the flat rate pay code service to an opportunity estimate, go to the Opportunity > Estimate screen, and drill into the Service Details screen to:

   • Select your flat rate pay code from the Default Pay Codes for time allocation.

   • Enter the Estimated # of Crew Members for labor estimates.

   • View or edit the Flat Rate Pay Per Visit.

Track estimated and actual labor costs

1. Go to the opportunity's Job Dashboard or Work Ticket screen.

2. View estimated and actual Labor Costs associated with the ticket to track estimated vs. actual labor expenses.

Cost section of the Work Ticket screen. 

Review flat rate pay in Time Entry

• When a service is configured with a flat rate pay code, Aspire automatically applies that rate during time entry. The system disables manual changes to the pay code in Time Entry to preserve payroll accuracy. Instead of calculating pay based on hours worked, Aspire uses the fixed rate defined for the service.

Review and export payroll data

1. Export payroll data from the Weekly Time Review screen or the Hours Pivot report.
2. Send the data to integrated systems like QuickBooks or Inova.

For more information, see Setting up Payroll in Aspire. 

Keep in mind

• Flat rate pay affects pay and cost calculations but not customer pricing.
• Flat rate pay codes in won opportunities are read-only in Time Entry.
• Quick Tickets support only Hourly Pay Codes.
• Drive Time records display the same flat rate set at the won opportunity stage.
• Separate work tickets are automatically selected when flat rate pay is used in opportunity services.
• You cannot switch between hourly and flat rate pay codes in an estimate without submitting a change order.
• Flat rate pay codes cannot be overridden in the Pay Code Override section.

API updates

The following updates have been made to the Aspire External REST API to support flat rate pay alongside hourly pay:

GET /Paycodes

• The GET /Paycodes endpoint now returns the paycode type as either Hourly or Flat Rate.

PUT /Paycodes

• The PUT /Paycodes endpoint now includes error checking for flat rate paycodes, ensuring proper validation when updating paycode types.

POST /Paycodes

• The POST /Paycodes endpoint now defaults to Hourly if the paycode type name is left blank during the request, preventing API failures when creating a paycode.