Stop Guessing: Why Your Company Needs Precision Labour Costing
For any service company, calculating the true cost of labour isn't just about paying staff—it's about protecting your profit margins and ensuring fair, accurate invoicing. Relying on manual calculations or simplistic time tracking often leads to lost revenue or customer disputes.
We've integrated a powerful, automated calculation engine into our platform to handle the complexity of modern pricing rules. This guarantees that every job is billed correctly, compensating your company for every minute and every premium circumstance.
Guaranteeing Profit: Core Pricing Features
Our system calculates labour cost based on eight core inputs, but it’s the four critical billing parameters that unlock true financial control.
1. Granular Rate Switching (Standard vs. Premium)
We eliminate blanket hourly rates by distinguishing between Standard and Premium work periods.
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Standard vs. Premium Time: The system precisely measures the job duration and, minute by minute, calculates how much time falls into the defined standard working hours and how much falls into the higher-cost Premium hours. This ensures you are always compensated correctly for out-of-hours work (e.g., late nights or early mornings).
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Rate Protection: If the Premium Rate is ever accidentally set to zero, the system automatically defaults to the Standard Rate, preventing a job from being incorrectly billed at £0.00/hour.
2. Eliminating Under-billing: Minimum Charges and Rounding
We eliminate lost revenue from short service calls and inconsistent invoicing by automatically adjusting the total billable time:
| Feature |
Financial Benefit |
Example |
| Minimum Charge |
Guarantees a minimum service fee for any job, no matter how short. |
A job lasting 10 minutes with a 30-minute minimum charge is billed for the full 30 minutes. |
| Time Rounding |
Rounds the billable time up to the nearest interval (e.g., 15, 30, or 60 minutes) for standardised invoicing. |
A 35-minute job with a 30-minute rounding value is billed for 60 minutes. |
| Pro-Rata Allocation: |
When the time is adjusted (due to minimums or rounding), the system applies the original Standard/Premium rate split ratio to the new, inflated billable time. This ensures the correct, higher rates are applied to the portion of the time adjustment that falls under Premium rules. |
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3. Contractual Flexibility: Rate Overrides
The system offers powerful override features to handle every customer contract and scheduling scenario:
| Feature |
How it Works |
Your Benefit |
| Weekend Premium Flag |
A simple switch (toggle) ensures that all work on Saturday or Sunday is immediately charged at the Premium Rate, regardless of the standard weekday hours. |
Ensures immediate compliance with weekend labour agreements and compensates for weekend deployment. |
| Maintain Standard Rate |
If activated, and the job starts within the Standard Rate period, the system applies the Standard Rate to the entire job duration, even if it runs past the standard end time. |
Ideal for client contracts that guarantee rate continuity to avoid mid-job rate changes. (Note: If a job starts in Premium time, the normal rate split applies.) |
The Ultimate Benefit: Precision and Confidence
Integrating this advanced calculation into your platform provides immediate, tangible benefits:
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100% Invoice Accuracy: Eliminate manual errors and guarantee that every invoice respects contractual terms, weekend premiums, and minimum charges.
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Protected Profit Margins: Stop leaving money on the table. You are compensated for every minute worked and for all circumstances defined as Premium.
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Clear Visibility: Gain real-time insight into the true labour cost of every job, empowering managers to make better scheduling and pricing decisions.
This is more than just time tracking; it's a strategic tool for financial integrity and profitability.
If you would like to know more about AutoVu and what we can do to help your business, why not check out our Frequently Asked Questions page, or Contact Us any time to discuss your specific requirements.