Automating Staffing Blended Rate Logic

Published on June 15, 2026 QuoteX

PSC Staffing Rules (Rate Blends)

PSC Staffing Rules, also known as Rate Blends, allow Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to establish staffing guidelines. These templates calculate "Average Rates" and "All-Inclusive Rates" based on a blend of different roles (e.g., a mix of Onshore and Offshore resources) to derive a blended cost for project delivery.

Key Takeaway: Use Staffing Rules templates to set staffing guidelines with minimum percentage requirements for roles, calculated average rates, and all-inclusive rates.

Overview

Staffing Rules use predefined assumptions about role distributions to systematically generate cost guidelines. For example, you might create a rule that assumes a project is staffed by 20% Project Management, 40% Onshore Developers, and 40% Offshore Developers to see the blended hourly rate.

Rate Blend overview showing role mix and calculated rates.

Step 1: Add a New Rate Blend

Click ‘New’.
Enter the ‘Rate Blend Name’. Use a clear, easily identifiable name, especially when detailed information is included, such as 'PM(US)|TA(US)|TL(IND)|BA(US)|QA (IND)|Dev(IND) - USD'.

New Rate Blend form with name and currency fields.
Choose the ‘Currency’. Currency selection is crucial because it permits users to apply rules exclusively within the same currency.
Save.

Result: When you define Blend Rate Roles, the calculated average rate and all-inclusive rate aggregate (roll up) on the Rate Blend automatically.

Saved Rate Blend record with calculated rate fields.

Step 2: Add Blend Rate Roles

Go to the ‘Related’ tab on the Rate Blend detail page.

Related tab on the Rate Blend detail page.
Click ‘New’.
Select ‘Role’.
Choose the ‘Currency’. It must match the currency of the parent record to keep the currency setting consistent and accurate.
Enter the ‘Rate’. Manually calculate the presumed blended rate for the chosen Role from your organization's rate cards, considering regions and the selected currency. Alternatively, use an informed assumption based on experience.
Enter ‘Percent Allocation’. Minimum Percent Allocation defines the cost of the chosen role for the specified percentage of time in the project. For example, if a project lasts 1 hour and you only require a Project Manager for 30 minutes, with an hourly cost of $20, the project manager cost on the project is $10.

Blend Rate Role form with rate and allocation fields.
Enter ‘Expense Allocation’. This determines the all-inclusive cost of the selected role based on the allocated percentage. The expense allocation percentage is added to the calculated rate to give a comprehensive cost for the role.
Save.

Next: Continue adding roles. The ‘Average Rate Calculated’ and ‘All Inclusive Rate Calculated’ are consolidated on the Rate Blend record and used in Scopes to derive the ‘Average Calculated Cost’ for delivering the defined scopes.

Consolidated rates
Rate Blend with consolidated Average and All-Inclusive rates.

Understanding Calculated Rates

The system automatically consolidates the data into two primary metrics on the Rate Blend record:

Metric	Description
Average Rate Calculated	The weighted average hourly rate based on the billing/cost rates of the selected roles and their staffing percentages.
All-Inclusive Rate Calculated	The average rate plus the defined expense allocations.

Practical Application

Once configured, Staffing Rules are used in the Scopes section of the application. They allow the system to derive the Average Calculated Cost for delivering a defined scope of work, ensuring estimates reflect your organization's standard delivery model (e.g., a specific Onshore/Offshore ratio).

Tip: Always match the Currency on each Blend Rate Role to its parent Rate Blend. Mismatched currencies prevent rules from being applied consistently.

Knowledge Article Number: KA-00019