FAQ: Understanding QuoteX - Staffing Rules

Published on April 28, 2026 QuoteX

When preparing a professional services quote, one of the most important questions is: How much will it actually cost us to deliver this scope?

The answer often depends on several factors, including the roles involved, their hourly costs, the amount of time each role is expected to spend on the project, and any additional expenses associated with those roles.

Staffing Rules in QuoteX provide a structured way to define these assumptions before the sales team starts building quotes. Instead of calculating staffing costs from scratch for every quote, subject matter experts can create reusable Rate Blends that act as pricing blueprints.

In simple terms Staffing Rules let your organization define a repeatable staffing-cost model. Once the model is configured, QuoteX can use the calculated rates when determining the Average Calculated Cost for project scopes.

1. What Are Staffing Rules?

Staffing Rules are a way to define how different roles contribute to the cost of delivering a project scope.

They are especially useful during the early stages of a project when the exact staffing plan may not yet be available, but the sales and delivery teams still need a reasonable estimate of the expected delivery cost.

Rather than starting with a blank calculation for every quote, your subject matter experts can define standard staffing assumptions in advance.

These assumptions are stored in Rate Blends. Sales users can then use the resulting calculated rates while building project scopes.

Why this matters Staffing Rules reduce guesswork when estimating delivery cost. They provide a consistent starting point based on predefined role, rate, allocation, and expense assumptions.

2. What Is a Rate Blend?

A Rate Blend is the parent record used to define a staffing-cost model. It brings together multiple roles, their presumed rates, their percentage allocations, and any applicable expenses.

You can think of a Rate Blend as a pricing blueprint.

For example, a professional services organization might regularly deliver projects using a combination of:

1. Project Manager from the US
2. Developer from India
3. Business Analyst from the US
4. QA resource from India

Instead of rebuilding this staffing-cost model for every quote, the organization can create a Rate Blend containing those roles and their expected allocations.

3. How Do I Create a Rate Blend?

The process begins from the Staffing Rules tab.

1. Open the Staffing Rules tab.
2. Add a new Rate Blend.
3. Enter a clear name that identifies the roles and regions included in the blend.
4. Select the appropriate Currency.
5. Save the Rate Blend.

Example Rate Blend NamePM(US)|Dev(IND) - USD

A name like this makes it immediately clear which roles and regions are represented and which currency is being used.

4. Why Is Currency Important?

Currency is an important part of a Rate Blend because the staffing rules can only be applied to quotes that use the same currency.

When creating a Rate Blend, select the currency that matches the intended quoting environment.

Important Make sure you select the correct currency when creating the Rate Blend. A Rate Blend configured for one currency cannot simply be applied to a quote using a different currency.

5. What Are Blend Rate Roles?

After creating the parent Rate Blend, you need to define the individual roles that make up the staffing model.

These are called Blend Rate Roles.

Each Blend Rate Role represents one role that contributes to the overall cost calculation. For each role, you define the assumptions QuoteX should use when calculating the blended cost.

To add Blend Rate Roles:

1. Open the Rate Blend.
2. Go to the Related tab.
3. Find the Blend Rate Roles section.
4. Add the required roles.
5. Enter the rate and allocation information for each role.

6. What Information Do I Enter for Each Blend Rate Role?

Each role requires the information needed to determine how much that role contributes to the overall project cost.

7. What Is Presumed Rate?

Presumed Rate is the hourly rate you assume for a particular role when building the Rate Blend.

This rate can be based on your organization's standard rate cards or on an informed assumption from previous project experience.

The purpose is to provide QuoteX with a reasonable cost basis for calculating the contribution of that role to the overall Rate Blend.

Example If the presumed hourly cost of a Project Manager is $20/hour, enter 20 as the rate for that role.

8. What Is Percent Allocation?

Percent Allocation indicates how much of a specific role is required relative to the total project time represented by the calculation.

This is useful when a role does not participate for the entire duration of the project.

For example, a Project Manager might only be required for half of the project time, while a Developer may be required throughout the project.

Since the Project Manager is required for 50% of the one-hour period, the calculated contribution is $10.

9. What Is Expense Allocation?

In addition to the base rate, a role may have additional expenses associated with delivering the project.

Expense Allocation allows you to add a percentage to account for those additional expenses.

The purpose is to make the resulting rate more comprehensive by including both the calculated role rate and the associated expenses.

How should I start? If you are setting up Staffing Rules for the first time and do not yet have a specific expense assumption, start with the appropriate base rate and allocation information. Configure Expense Allocation according to your organization's actual cost assumptions.

10. What Happens After I Add All the Roles?

Once you have added the required Blend Rate Roles and entered their rates, allocations, and expenses, QuoteX aggregates the individual values into the parent Rate Blend.

The individual role-level calculations are rolled up to the Rate Blend so that QuoteX can determine the overall calculated rates for the staffing model.

The calculation flow is:Blend Rate Roles → Role Costs & Expenses → Rate Blend Roll-Up → Calculated Rates

11. What Is Average Rate Calculated?

Average Rate Calculated is one of the calculated metrics produced from the roles and allocations configured in the Rate Blend.

QuoteX aggregates the individual role calculations to arrive at an average calculated rate for the overall staffing model.

This provides a single rate that can represent the combined staffing assumptions rather than requiring the sales user to calculate each role independently.

12. What Is All-Inclusive Rate Calculated?

All-Inclusive Rate Calculated takes the role calculations and associated expense allocations into account.

This provides a more comprehensive rate because the calculation includes the applicable additional expenses associated with the staffing model.

13. How Are Staffing Rules Used When Building Scopes?

The final purpose of the Staffing Rules setup is to provide cost information that can be used when building project scopes.

When a salesperson uses the configured Rate Blends while building scopes, the calculated rates can be used to determine the expected cost of delivering the relevant scope items.

QuoteX uses these rates to help derive the Average Calculated Cost for specific project scopes in the Scope Library.

14. Complete Example

Consider a simple project that requires a combination of a Project Manager and Developer.

The Project Manager's 50% allocation means that if the project represents one hour of total time and the PM's rate is $20/hour, the PM contributes $10 to the calculated cost.

When all roles are configured, QuoteX aggregates their calculations and produces the Average Rate Calculated and All-Inclusive Rate Calculated for the Rate Blend.

These calculated rates can then be used when building scopes so that the estimated delivery cost is based on the staffing assumptions defined by your organization.

Quick Reference

Staffing Rules provide a repeatable way to estimate delivery costs without starting from scratch for every quote. SMEs define Rate Blends as pricing blueprints, add the required Blend Rate Roles with their presumed rates and allocations, and let QuoteX roll those values up into calculated rates. These rates can then be used in the Scope Library to derive the Average Calculated Cost for specific project scopes.

Knowledge Article Number: KA-00235