Knowledge

Resources & Cost

Rate Types Are Five Named Price/Unit Slots

Five named Price/Unit slots; Rate Source is Resource/Role/Override

P6 Resources tab. Assignment columns include units and costs.
These are assignment rows. Rate types pick which price row the assignment uses, not this tab.

What a planner means

A rate type is a user-defined title for one of five global price-per-unit slots. Oracle examples: Standard, Internal, External, Hourly, Weekly, Special. The same resource can be $175/hour on one assignment and $5,000/week on another because the assignments pick different slots.

Titles are enterprise data (Resources / Rate Types). You rename the five User Defined Title fields. That only changes the label in lists and columns. It does not add a sixth slot.

The assignment’s Rate Type picks which of the five prices to use. Rate Source picks whose price: Resource, Role, or Override (typed Price/Unit). Changing Rate Type recopies Price/Unit and recalculates cost if units and costs are linked. Recalculate Assignment Costs skips Override.

If the chosen slot has no rate, P6 uses the project Default Price/Unit for activities without resource/role Price/Units (PROJECT.def_cost_per_qty). A ^ in Price/Unit means that default is in use. means time-varying rates or shift calendars apply. ^ means both.

This is not a currency, not a cost account, and not a unit of measure.

XER

No rate-type-title table on the project map. Do not invent RATETYPE.

RSRCRATE / ROLERATE hold the five prices (cost_per_qty … cost_per_qty5) plus Effective Date. EPPM labels slot 1–3 Standard / Internal / External; Professional labels them Price/Unit1–3.

ColumnOracle label
TASKRSRC.rate_typeRate Type
TASKRSRC.cost_per_qty_source_typeRate Source
TASKRSRC.cost_per_qtyPrice / Unit
PROJECT.def_rate_typeRate Type
PROJECT.def_cost_per_qtyDefault Price / Unit

REST RateType values: Price / Unit, Price / Unit2–5, None. Stored XER tokens are unverified. Rate Source API: Resource, Role, Override.

Microsoft Project

MSP Cost Rate Tables A–E are five time-varying price tables on a resource. Same shape (five slots). Different object. MSP has no Rate Source (Resource vs Role vs Override) and no global title list. Do not map rate_type to Table A and call them the same field.

Don't

  • Treat a rate-type title as a sixth price or as a currency.
  • Invent a RATETYPE table or rate_type tokens.
  • Treat Override Price/Unit as a resource dictionary rate.
  • Map rate types to MSP Cost Rate Tables and call them identical.

Sources

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