Plans & Rate Cards
Set up how your portal decides whether a client request is covered by their plan or billable, and how agent-drafted estimates get priced. Configure it once; from then on every request shows staff exactly where the client stands — and you always make the final call.
The rule that never bends: the system computes plan usage and prepares drafts; you review, decide, and publish. It never charges, sends, or waives on its own, and the plan, allowance, usage, and rates are staff-only — your client sees only what you send them.
How Pricing Scope Is Decided
Every client resolves to one scope — the policy that says what's included and what a rate card charges for. The system checks three places in order and uses the first that applies:
- Per-client override. On a client, turn on Override Billing Scope to give that one client its own allowance and rate card — regardless of their plan. Use it for a bespoke arrangement.
- Active subscription plan. Otherwise the client inherits the scope of their active subscription product — its Scope Allowance Type, threshold, period, and rate card. This is the normal path: set it once on the plan, every subscriber inherits it.
- Account default. If a client has no override and no active plan, they fall back to Billing Defaults — your account-wide Default Allowance Type and Default Rate Card.
Fail-safe to billable. If no plan resolves — a client with no subscription, or a lapsed one — the request is treated as billable and flagged low-confidence, never quietly covered. Undefined work is never given away by mistake.
Allowance Types
Each plan (or override, or the account default) picks one Scope Allowance Type. It decides how the system meters covered work.
| Allowance type | Metering | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Always Billable | No included allowance | Every request is billable — the plan includes no covered work. Estimates are priced straight from the rate card. The simplest setup, and the safe default. |
| Requests per Month | Metered | The plan covers a set number of requests each period (Scope Allowance Threshold). The system counts the client's requests this period; within the count is covered, beyond it is billable. |
| Hours per Month | Metered | The plan covers a number of hours each period (Scope Allowance Threshold). The system sums the hours logged on the client's tasks in the period, billable or not; within is covered, the overage is billable. |
| Feature Scope | Reasoned, not metered | Coverage is described in words rather than a number. There's no automatic count — the agent reasons about whether a request fits the plan's described scope and always leaves the decision to you. |
Period. Requests per Month resets on the plan's own billing interval (Scope Period), or the calendar month for an override. Hours per Month follows the client's hours period: a period set on the client's Hours tab, otherwise their retainer's billing cycle, otherwise the calendar month.
Rate Cards
A rate card is a list of named work types and their rates. When an agent drafts an estimate, every line is priced from the rate card that applies to that client — the agent never invents a price. Add rows under Rate Card on a plan, Default Rate Card on the account, or a client override.
| Work Type | Rate | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Design | $150 | / hour |
| Development | $165 | / hour |
| Consulting | $200 | / hour |
An example rate card — set your own work types and rates.
When a drafted estimate line uses a work type that isn't on the rate card, it comes through marked needs pricing instead of guessed — and an estimate can't be published until you set that price. Prices are always anchored to rates you defined.
What Counts as a Request
(For requests-per-month plans.)
Under Billing Defaults, Billable Request Ticket Types lists which ticket types count as a billable request. A ticket of one of these types counts toward the client's monthly allowance; everything else — general support, questions — does not.
Opt-in on purpose. Until you designate at least one request type, requests-per-month plans can't be metered, so requests are treated as billable rather than assumed covered. Nothing is given away before you've said what counts.
Hours, Measured Honestly
(For hours-per-month plans.)
Hours are counted from the time entries your team logs on the client's tasks, the same numbers as the client's Hours tab. Time logged before time entries existed (v4.215.0) was carried over as one entry per task, dated the task's completion date. When the current period holds such carried-over time, the ticket marks the figure as less certain rather than letting it read as a firm "within allowance" or "over allowance", because that time may belong to earlier work.
For a period set on the client that is longer or shorter than a month, the included hours scale with it: a quarter gets three months' worth. A retainer's included hours are per billing cycle.
Set the included hours in Scope Allowance Threshold on the plan or override.
Where Scope Shows Up
Once configured, staff see the scope at the moment they need it — always staff-only, never shown to your client.
- The estimate card, on the ticket. When an agent drafts an estimate, the card shows the plan and the client's usage this period — "used N of M" with a clear within allowance or over allowance badge, computed by the system, so what you see is the real count. You review the pricing and publish it yourself.
- Covered replies. When a request is within a requests-per-month allowance, the agent can draft a short "that's included in your plan" reply. You confirm the no-charge decision explicitly — a covered outcome is always a positive action, never a silent dismissal.
- Part covered, part billed (hours). For an hours plan, an agent can prepare an estimate for only the hours a job runs over the included time. The split is the system's — and it's re-checked when you publish: if the client has logged more hours since the estimate was drafted, publishing is held so it always bills the right amount.
- The Estimates review queue. Agent-prepared estimates gather in a "Pending agent estimate drafts" queue at the top of the Estimates page, so you can review and publish them from the pipeline — not only from each ticket. You only see drafts you're allowed to publish.
- Automatic triage flags. Enable the New request: flag for billing triage automation and every new request ticket gets a staff-only note the moment it arrives, showing where the client stands against their plan with a prompt to reply or quote. It only flags — it never replies, quotes, or charges.
A Request, End to End
Acme Co · Care Plan — Requests per Month, covers 3; rate card: Design $150/hr, Development $165/hr.
- Acme opens their 4th request ticket of the month.
- The triage automation posts a staff-only note: "New request · 3 of 3 requests this period · over allowance — likely billable, prepare an estimate."
- An agent drafts an estimate; each line is priced from the Care Plan rate card. The card shows 3 of 3 · over allowance.
- You review the pricing and publish the estimate as yourself. It's created unsent — you send it when ready.
The outcome: the first three requests were covered; the fourth is quoted from your rates — and every step was surfaced, never decided for you.
Setup Checklist
- Set your account default. Choose a Default Allowance Type (Always Billable is the safe start) and add a Default Rate Card for clients with no plan. (Billing Defaults.)
- Add scope to your subscription plans. On each subscription product, set its Scope Allowance Type, Scope Allowance Threshold where relevant, and its Rate Card. Subscribers inherit it automatically. (Product · subscription.)
- Designate request types. If you use requests-per-month plans, list which ticket types count under Billable Request Ticket Types. (Billing Defaults.)
- Override individual clients (optional). For a bespoke arrangement, turn on Override Billing Scope on that client and set their own allowance and rate card. (Client · Billing Scope Override.)
- Turn on automatic triage (optional). Enable the New request: flag for billing triage recipe so new requests are flagged for review the moment they arrive. (Automations.)