--- title: Set Up Time-Based Labor Rates description: Turn on time-based rating, set weekday, weekend and holiday tiers, pick a billing mode, and see the labor rates on a service order. --- [Skip to content](https://support.metafleet.ai/set-up-time-based-labor-rates#main-content) English Show submenu for translations ![AI-powered fleet repair software](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/Transparent%20logo%20for%20dark%20background.png?width=350&height=54&name=Transparent%20logo%20for%20dark%20background.png) Open main navigation Close main navigation - English Show submenu for translations - [Contact us](mailto:support@metafleet.ai) [Contact us](mailto:support@metafleet.ai) How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [MetaFleet Answer Hub](https://support.metafleet.ai/?hsLang=en) 2. [Admin & Settings](https://support.metafleet.ai/admin-settings?hsLang=en) 3. [Rates & Fees](https://support.metafleet.ai/admin-settings?hsLang=en#rates-fees) # Set Up Time-Based Labor Rates ## Bill labor at different hourly rates for weekdays, nights, weekends and holidays, and see how the rate shows on an order. **For:** Owners and managers · **Permission:** Manage account settings · **Time:** ~10 minutes ### Quick summary 1. Open **Settings › Pricing & Rates › Global Rates** and click the **Time-Based Rates** tab. 2. Turn on **Enable Time-Based Rating**. 3. Set the weekday tiers, the weekend tiers and the holiday rate. 4. Pick how to calculate labor hours when a job crosses a tier boundary. 5. Add labor to a service order and check the **Labor Details** card. ### Before you start - Decide your tiers on paper first. A typical shop has a day rate, a night rate, a weekend rate and a holiday rate. - Every change on this tab saves as soon as you make it. There is no **Save** button, so double-check a value before you leave the field. - Open orders pick up a rate change the next time they re-price. Orders at Pending Payment or later keep the labor as billed. ### Turn on time-based rating 1. Click **Settings**, then **Pricing & Rates**. 2. Open the **Global Rates** tab. Next to **Active Rates** and **Archived Rates**, click **Time-Based Rates**. 3. Turn on **Enable Time-Based Rating**. ![Enable Time-Based Rating switch turned on at the top of the Time-Based Rates tab](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/knowledge-base/oct-2026/set-up-time-based-labor-rates-01-enable.png?width=707&height=117&name=set-up-time-based-labor-rates-01-enable.png) > **Where to find it.** Time-based rates live on the **Global Rates** tab. Once it's on, the **Active Rates** list also shows a pinned **Time-Based Labor Rate** row with your current tiers. Click its pencil to jump back to this editor. ### Set the weekday tiers The **Weekday Rate Tiers** card splits the 24-hour day into rate bands. 1. **Name the tier.** Type a name in **Tier Name**, such as Tier 1. 2. **Set the hours.** Fill in **Start** and **End**. If **End** is earlier than **Start**, the tier runs past midnight. 3. **Set the rate.** Enter the dollars per hour in **Rate ($/hr)**. 4. **Add more bands.** Click **+ Add Tier** for each extra band. Click the red **✕** to remove one. If you rename a tier, every company keeps its override for it. ![Weekday Rate Tiers card with Tier 1 at $100 an hour and Tier 2 at $120 an hour covering the full day](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/knowledge-base/oct-2026/set-up-time-based-labor-rates-02-weekday-tiers.png?width=714&height=279&name=set-up-time-based-labor-rates-02-weekday-tiers.png) Tier 1 runs 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM at $100.00 an hour. Tier 2 runs 6:30 PM to 8:00 AM at $120.00 an hour. > **Cover the whole day.** Tiers should cover all 24 hours with no gaps or overlaps. The card shows **✓ Full 24-hour coverage** when they do. If they don't, you see a coverage warning to fix. > > A single tier with the same **Start** and **End** covers the whole day and shows **All day: every hour is charged at this rate.** Next to other tiers it is refused: a red banner names the tier and the status reads **Not saved**. ### Set the weekend rates 1. In the **Weekend Rates** section, turn on **Enable Weekend Rates**. Saturday and Sunday then use these tiers instead of the weekday tiers. 2. Set the tier name, **Start**, **End** and **Rate ($/hr)** the same way as for weekdays. Use **+ Add Tier** if you want more than one weekend band. ![Weekend Rates section with Enable Weekend Rates on and one tier at $180 an hour covering all day](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/knowledge-base/oct-2026/set-up-time-based-labor-rates-03-weekend-tiers.png?width=714&height=248&name=set-up-time-based-labor-rates-03-weekend-tiers.png) The example runs 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM, which the card counts as full coverage. If you leave **Enable Weekend Rates** off, weekends bill at the weekday tiers. ### Set the holiday rate 1. On the **Holiday Settings** card, click each federal holiday that should bill at the holiday rate. Click **+ Add Additional Holiday** for a date of your own. Use **Select All** or **Clear All** to change them at once. 2. Enter the dollars per hour in **Holiday Rate ($/hr)**. 3. Choose the **Calendar Year** to review the dates. Federal holiday dates adjust each year on their own. 4. Decide on **Holiday overrides Weekend**. When it's on, the holiday rate applies even if the holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday. Turn it off to use the weekend rate instead. ![Holiday Settings card with the 11 federal holidays selected and a holiday rate of $200 an hour](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/knowledge-base/oct-2026/set-up-time-based-labor-rates-04-holidays.png?width=714&height=540&name=set-up-time-based-labor-rates-04-holidays.png) > **A holiday replaces the day and night tiers.** On a holiday, the holiday rate applies for the whole calendar day, whatever the time. ### Choose how to calculate labor hours Some jobs cross a tier boundary, such as a repair that starts at 5:00 PM and ends at 8:00 PM. The **How to Calculate Labor Hours** card sets how those jobs are billed. | Mode | How the job is billed | | --- | --- | | **Precise Split** | Hours are split at each tier boundary. Each part is billed at its own tier rate. Each row on the invoice matches one rate. | | **Highest Rate** | The whole job is billed at the highest tier rate it touches. It is the simplest to bill. | | **Prevailing Rate** | The whole job is billed at the tier that covers most of the hours. A tie goes to the higher rate. | ![How to Calculate Labor Hours card with Precise Split selected, plus Highest Rate and Prevailing Rate](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/knowledge-base/oct-2026/set-up-time-based-labor-rates-05-billing-mode.png?width=362&height=482&name=set-up-time-based-labor-rates-05-billing-mode.png) Click a mode to select it. This choice is your default for every company and every order. ### Set a different rate for one company Some customers have a contract rate. You can override any tier for them without changing your base rates. 1. Click **Company Details › Companies** and open the company. 2. Open the **Company Rates** tab. The **Time-Based Labor Rate — Company Overrides** card lists each tier with its **Base** rate. 3. Enter a dollar amount in **Company override** for each tier you want to change. Once you enter a value, **Save overrides** appears. Click it. ![Time-Based Labor Rate Company Overrides card listing the weekday, weekend and holiday tiers with empty override fields](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/knowledge-base/oct-2026/set-up-time-based-labor-rates-06-company-overrides.png?width=860&height=339&name=set-up-time-based-labor-rates-06-company-overrides.png) Leave a field empty and that tier uses your base rate. Click the **✕** next to an override to clear it. Overrides change dollar amounts only. The billing mode is set for the whole account on the **Time-Based Rates** tab, not per company. Saving an override needs the **Manage account settings** permission. ### See the rate on a labor line 1. Open a service order and go to its **Estimate** tab. 2. Click **+ Add labor**. The **Labor Details** dialog opens. Under **Rate source**, **Time-based** is the default and picks the tier for you. 3. Check **Starts**. It shows **From the stack**, which means the line begins where the lines above it end. The first line starts at the job clock-in, not at On My Way. Until a technician clocks in on the job, On My Way stands in. When you bill travel, the drive is its own Travel line. Either way, the clock-in decides the tier. Click **Set by hand** to type your own start time. The field then offers **Use now** to fill in the current time. 4. Set **Hours**. It moves in steps of 0.25 h. 5. Read the note under the fields, then click **Save** to close the dialog. Back on the tab, the **Labor Details** card adds up all the labor on the order. It starts closed on the **Estimate** and **Invoice** tabs. Closed, its header shows **Stated** and **Actual**, the **Estimated** badge and the billing mode. Click the title to open it. Until a technician clocks in, the card is marked **Estimated** and shows **Expected start**. Click **Change** to move the expected start. Two bars sit on one time line, **Stated** above **Actual**. **Stated** is the labor as priced, in hours and dollars. **Actual** is the time technicians were clocked in On Site. Actual is there to compare. It never changes the price. Click **Show details** to see each rate with **Per hour**, **Hours** and **Amount**, with the labor total at the bottom. > **When the price locks.** Open orders pick up the change the next time they re-price. Once an order reaches Pending Payment, its labor stays as billed. To bill one order differently, pick another billing mode in the menu on the card. Your default is marked **shop default**. ![Labor Details card open, with Tier 1 at 4.00 hours, Tier 2 at 2.00 hours and a $640.00 total](https://support.metafleet.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/knowledge-base/oct-2026/set-up-time-based-labor-rates-07-labor-card-v2.png?width=443&height=613&name=set-up-time-based-labor-rates-07-labor-card-v2.png) In the example, a 6-hour job starting at 2:30 PM crosses the 6:30 PM boundary, so the details show 4.00 hours at $100.00 and 2.00 hours at $120.00, for $640.00. ### Troubleshooting | Symptom | Likely cause | Fix | | --- | --- | --- | | "Permission denied: ManageAccountSettings." when I click **Save overrides** on a company | Your role lacks the **Manage account settings** permission | Ask an admin to change your role or to save the override. | | A **View only** banner shows at the top of the **Time-Based Rates** tab and I can't edit it | Your role lacks the **Manage account settings** permission | Ask an admin for the permission. | | A red banner reads **Not saved: "…" starts and ends at the same time** | Starts and ends at the same time, so it can't be saved beside other tiers | Change its **Start** or **End**. | | I can't find time-based rates, or the app's hint says **Rates → Time-Based Rates** | They live on the Global Rates tab, under Time-Based Rates | Go to **Settings › Pricing & Rates › Global Rates › Time-Based Rates**. | | The tier cards don't appear | **Enable Time-Based Rating** is off | Turn it on. The tier, holiday and billing mode cards show up. | | A coverage warning shows on the tiers | The tiers leave a gap or overlap in the 24-hour day | Adjust **Start** and **End** until the card shows **✓ Full 24-hour coverage**. | | An order still shows the old rate | It has reached Pending Payment, so its labor is frozen | Nothing to change: it stays as billed. Open orders pick up the change on their next re-price. | | A weekend job bills at the weekday rate | **Enable Weekend Rates** is off | Turn it on and set the weekend tiers. | | The Add labor dialog says **Time-based is disabled tenant-wide** | Time-based rating is off for the whole account | Turn on **Enable Time-Based Rating**. | ### FAQs **Do I need to click Save?** No. Every change on the **Time-Based Rates** tab saves automatically. The company override card is the exception: click **Save overrides**. **Which time does the rate use?** The job site's time zone, then the service area's, then your shop's default. The start comes from the order's **Labor Details** card. **What happens on a holiday that falls on a weekend?** With **Holiday overrides Weekend** on, the holiday rate wins. With it off, the weekend rate applies. **Can a customer pay a different rate?** Yes. Use the **Company Rates** tab on the company to override any tier. **Can I change the billing mode on one order?** Yes. Use the billing mode menu on the order's **Labor Details** card. It affects only that order. ### Related articles - [Create and Edit Global Rates](https://support.metafleet.ai/creating-global-rates?hsLang=en) - [Parts Pricing & Markup](https://support.metafleet.ai/parts-pricing-and-markup?hsLang=en) - [Build and Send an Estimate on a Service Order](https://support.metafleet.ai/build-and-send-an-estimate?hsLang=en) - [Start Here](https://support.metafleet.ai/start-here?hsLang=en) - [Companies & Contacts](https://support.metafleet.ai/companies-contacts?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Create/Edit Companies](https://support.metafleet.ai/companies-contacts?hsLang=en#create-edit-companies) - [Contacts](https://support.metafleet.ai/companies-contacts?hsLang=en#contacts) - [Vehicles](https://support.metafleet.ai/companies-contacts?hsLang=en#vehicles) - [Work Intake (Requests & Service Orders)](https://support.metafleet.ai/work-intake-requests-service-orders?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Creating Service Orders](https://support.metafleet.ai/work-intake-requests-service-orders?hsLang=en#creating-service-orders) - 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