T&M Pricing Hierarchy

Overview

The T&M pricing hierarchy controls how Aspire calculates costs on time and materials (T&M) invoices. It determines whether the item catalog price or a purchase receipt price is used when charging your customer. This helps you handle one-off purchases without changing your standard catalog pricing.

Key terms

Term	Definition
T&M (time and materials)	A billing method where the customer is charged based on actual labor time and material costs, plus markups.
Item catalog	The central list of items and their standard prices in Aspire.
One-time item	An item that doesn't exist in your item catalog. It's added to a single estimate or purchase receipt and won't carry over to future work.
Purchase receipt	A record in Aspire that captures the actual cost of items purchased from a vendor.

Things to know

This hierarchy only applies to T&M services. Fixed price contracts aren't affected.
When you tie a purchase receipt to a work ticket, Aspire uses the receipt cost instead of the catalog cost for markup calculations.
Your catalog prices don't change when you use a one-time item on a purchase receipt.

Requirements

To create purchase receipts in the Purchasing module and in the quick menu, you need Add Receipt added to your user role.
To edit items in your estimate, you need Edit Estimate Items added to your user role.

How it works

Aspire follows a specific order when deciding which cost to apply on a T&M invoice:

When a catalog item is added to a work ticket and no purchase receipt is linked, Aspire uses the item catalog price for markups and invoicing.
If you purchase an item outside of your inventory and add it as a one-time item on a purchase receipt, Aspire uses the receipt cost instead of the catalog cost for markups.
When the purchase receipt is tied to the work ticket, the receipt cost overrides the catalog cost on that invoice only. Future estimates still use the standard catalog price.

Example

You need to buy a tree that usually costs $200 in your catalog, but the vendor charges $250. Here's what happens:

You create a one-time item on a purchase receipt for the $250 cost.
You tie that purchase receipt to the work ticket.
Aspire applies the $250 receipt cost for the markup on that invoice.
Your catalog stays at $200 for future estimates.

Flowchart illustrating pricing processes including T&M pricing, estimates, catalog, and receipts.

Why this matters

This hierarchy lets you handle price changes from vendors on a job-by-job basis. You don't need to update your entire catalog when a single purchase comes in at a different cost. Your standard pricing stays clean for future estimates, and your current invoice reflects the real cost.