Rental Rate Types | Latner Software Documentation

Rate Types are the units a rental rate is expressed in, and each one has its own way of turning a rate into a charge - this page is the reference for all eleven.

Overview

A Pricing Method decides which rate Latner bills; a Rate Type decides how that rate becomes money. Getting the rate type right matters more than the number next to it, because the rate type is what decides whether a month means 30 days, the real calendar month, or a twelfth of a year.

Every rate row has exactly one Rate Type, chosen from a dropdown filtered by the Allowed Rental Rate Types setting and by the pricing method.
Most rate types work by converting the rate into a daily equivalent and multiplying by the chargeable days. Charge Days Per Week is the divisor.
Four of them - Flat Monthly, Calendar Month, Calendar Month (Annualized) and Minimum Hours Per Month - have no daily equivalent, so no daily rate is shown against their invoice lines.
The monthly rate types handle a part month differently. Only Flat Monthly never prorates; the others give you pro rata (pro-rata) billing for a partial month in their own way - see Pro Rata Billing for a Partial Month below.
Flat Monthly and Minimum Hours Per Month can't be swapped to or from another rate type once a line has been invoiced on them.

the Rate Type dropdown with every rate type available. Narrow this list for your business with the Allowed Rental Rate Types setting

The Day Based Rate Types

Daily

Charges the rate for every chargeable day. The daily equivalent is the rate itself. Best for short hires where the customer wants a clear day-by-day cost.

Daily (24 hr)

The same rate, but billing days are counted as full 24 hour blocks from the hire start time rather than as calendar days. A machine picked up at 2pm Monday and returned at 1pm Tuesday is one day, not two. Use it where the exact time of day genuinely matters.

Weekly

Charges per chargeable week. The daily equivalent is the rate divided by Charge Days Per Week, so a $400 weekly rate is $80 a day on 5 Days and $57.14 a day on 7 Days.

Weekly (24 hr)

As Weekly, but the billing week runs as continuous seven-day windows from the hire start time.

The 24 hour rate types work with the 24 hr Rental Rate Grace Period (Minutes) setting. On the invoice that follows an off hire, a return that has run past the 24 hour block by less than the grace period does not attract the extra day. Set it in Security › Settings › Rental.

The Month Based Rate Types

The three monthly rate types are the ones most often mixed up, and they charge genuinely different amounts for the same hire.

Monthly

Treats every month as a flat 30 chargeable days. The daily equivalent is the rate divided by 30, and a shorter hire simply bills fewer days at that figure, so a partial month is prorated at the rate divided by 30 for each chargeable day on hire. Simple and predictable, at the cost of not lining up with the real calendar: on 7 Days, a whole 31 day month bills 31/30 of the rate.

Flat Monthly

Charges the full rate for each month from the hire start date through to the day before the same date the following month, whatever falls in between. It ignores Charge Days Per Week and has no daily equivalent, so a Flat Monthly line shows no daily rate on its invoice. A $5,000 Flat Monthly rate starting on the 12th bills $5,000 on every 12th, for as long as the hire runs.

Flat Monthly never prorates. A hire that starts mid-month bills the full rate from its start date, and a hire that ends part way through a month still pays for that whole month - only months that have not started yet are credited back when it goes off hire early. Stand downs make no difference to it either.

Calendar Month

Prorates the rate against the real month. Latner works out how many chargeable days the whole month contains and how many of them fall inside the hire, then charges that fraction of the monthly rate. A whole month with nothing stood down bills the full rate; a part month bills its share. February costs the same as March for a full month, but a fortnight in February costs more per day than a fortnight in March.

How the share is counted depends on Charge Days Per Week. On 7 Days it is calendar days on hire over the days in that month. On anything else it is chargeable days on hire over the chargeable days in that month - a $1,000 Calendar Month rate on 5 Days from 16 to 30 September 2024 covers 11 of September's 21 chargeable days, so it bills $1,000 x 11 / 21 = $523.81. Stand down days come off the days on hire, so a stand down prorates even an otherwise whole month.

Calendar Month (Annualized)

Spreads the annual cost - the monthly rate times twelve - evenly across all 365 days of the year. It deliberately ignores Charge Days Per Week, so weekends and public holidays are charged like any other day. Use it where the customer wants one consistent daily value across the whole year. A part month bills the monthly rate x 12 x the days on hire / 365.

The Hour Based Rate Types

Hourly

Prices from an Hourly Rental Rate with an Overtime Rate and a Minimum Hours value. On a quote the charge is the hourly rate multiplied by the minimum hours. Hourly tiers cannot be mixed with other rate types on a quote or contract.

Minimum Hours Per Month

The rate type for equipment where usage varies but the customer has committed to a minimum. It uses four values:

Hourly Rental Rate - the charge per hour of committed usage.
Excess Hourly Rental Rate - the charge per hour above the commitment. Required.
Minimum Monthly Hours - the committed hours per month. Required.
Hours per Day - used to pro rata a part month and to value stand down days. Required, and seeded from the Default Charge Hours Per Day setting.

Each month Latner charges the minimum monthly hours at the hourly rate, prorating the minimum down for a part month or for stand down days. It then compares the equipment's meter readings for that month against the minimum and charges any excess hours at the excess rate, as a separate Additional Hours line on the invoice. Where no meter reading was taken in a month, Latner assumes exactly the minimum was used and carries the reading forward, so the next real reading picks up the accumulated usage.

the Minimum Hours Per Month rate type. Choosing it renames the rate to Hourly Rental Rate, adds Excess Hourly Rental Rate, and makes Minimum Monthly Hours and Hours per Day required while hiding Minimum Charge and Max Daily Hours

How Part Months and Stand Downs Are Prorated

Minimum Hours Per Month bills by calendar month - the 1st to the last day - whatever date the hire started. A whole month with nothing stood down bills Minimum Monthly Hours as it stands. For a partial month, or any month with a stand down in it, Latner works the minimum out from the days instead:

Billed minimum hours = (chargeable days on hire in the month - stand down days) x Hours per Day, capped at Minimum Monthly Hours.

Chargeable days are the days that match the line's Charge Days Per Week - Monday to Friday on 5 Days, every day on 7 Days. Public holidays are not taken out automatically; record them as a stand down.
Stand down days are the chargeable days inside a Completed stand down, weighted by its Discount %. Four days at 100% count as 4; four days at 50% count as 2.
The stand down is not subtracted from the minimum. Latner does not calculate Minimum Monthly Hours - (stand down days x Hours per Day).

The billed minimum hours are charged at the Hourly Rental Rate. Metered hours above the billed minimum are charged at the Excess Hourly Rental Rate on the Additional Hours line. Metered hours below it still bill the minimum - there is no credit for under-use.

Example - a month with a stand down. Minimum Monthly Hours is 160, Hours per Day is 8, and the month has 22 chargeable days on 5 Days. The customer stands the machine down for 4 days at 100%.

Billed minimum hours = (22 - 4) x 8 = 144 hours at the Hourly Rental Rate.
It is not 160 - (4 x 8) = 128. Getting down to 128 hours would take 6 stand down days: (22 - 6) x 8 = 128.
If the meter shows 170 hours for the month, the 26 hours above 144 bill at the Excess Hourly Rental Rate.

Example - a partial month. Same rates, but the hire starts on a Wednesday with 12 chargeable days left in the month.

Billed minimum hours = 12 x 8 = 96 hours.
With a 2 day stand down in those 12 days, it is (12 - 2) x 8 = 80 hours.
Any metered hours above the billed minimum - 96 or 80 - bill at the Excess Hourly Rental Rate.

Because of the cap, a short stand down can leave the bill unchanged. In the example above, 22 chargeable days x 8 hours is 176, which is already over the 160 hour minimum. A 1 day stand down gives 168 and a 2 day stand down gives 160, so both still bill the full 160 hours. The minimum only starts to drop from the third stand down day. Set Hours per Day to what the customer actually committed to per day, because it decides both partial months and stand downs.

Operator

The fixed rate type on an Operator Pricing row. It is not chosen from the dropdown in normal use and does not bill from a rate at all - see Operator Pricing.

Checking a Line's Rate Type

The rental contract's Details tab has no rate type column. Each rate column covers a group of rate types: Monthly Rate covers Monthly, Flat Monthly, Calendar Month and Calendar Month (Annualized), and Hourly Rate covers Hourly and Minimum Hours Per Month. To see exactly which one a line is on:

Hover over the rate on the Details tab. The pop-up lists each Rate Type on the line with its Rental Rate. If the column you need isn't showing, turn it on from View Columns.
Edit the line and check the Rate Type on the Customer Rental Rates tab of the Update Detail Lines form.
After invoicing, the Invoices tab on the contract shows the Rate Type each invoice line was billed on.

hovering a rate on the Details tab shows the line's Rate Type and Rental Rate. Here the Monthly Rate column holds a plain Monthly rate, not Calendar Month or Flat Monthly

Changing a Line's Rate Type

Until a line has been invoiced, you can change its Rate Type by editing the line, including to or from Flat Monthly or Minimum Hours Per Month. Once it has been invoiced, its rate details lock (Cannot change Rate Details after invoicing), and the only way to change the rate is Rate Adjustment on the line - see How to Make a Rental Rate Adjustment.

A rate adjustment can't move a line to or from Flat Monthly or Minimum Hours Per Month. A line on either of them can only be adjusted to a new rate of the same type, and no other line can be adjusted onto them, because neither can reconcile what has already been billed against another type's maths. Minimum Hours Per Month adjustments also have to take effect on the 1st of a month.

When No Rate Type Fits the Deal

Some deals don't follow any rate type's maths - milestone payments, a negotiated schedule, or a part month priced in a way none of the types above calculate. For those, put the line on the Manual Pricing pricing method and bill it with Manual Billing Lines. Manual Pricing turns off rate-based billing for that line, so it invoices only the amounts you enter. The rates on it are still used for quoting. See How to Use Manual Billing Lines on a Rental Contract.

Which Pricing Methods Allow Which Rate Types

Fixed Pricing and Manual Pricing - every rate type.
Daily/Weekly Pricing - Daily, Daily (24 hr), Weekly and Weekly (24 hr) only, with the daily type in the first row and the weekly type in the second.
Tiered Pricing - everything except Flat Monthly, Calendar Month, Calendar Month (Annualized) and Minimum Hours Per Month.
Operator Pricing - Operator only.
Sub Hire supplier rates - no 24 hour rate types and no Minimum Hours Per Month.

FAQs

Invoices charge a full month when the hire starts or ends mid-month - how do I get pro rata invoicing?

It depends on the line's rate type. Only one monthly type never gives you pro rata (pro-rata) billing for a partial month:

Flat Monthly charges the full rate for each month from the hire start date and never prorates. This is the one that bills a full month for a partial month.
Monthly bills a shorter hire for fewer days, at the monthly rate divided by 30 for each chargeable day.
Calendar Month bills a part month its share of the real calendar month.
Calendar Month (Annualized) bills the monthly rate x 12 / 365 for each day on hire.
Minimum Hours Per Month prorates the minimum using Hours per Day: chargeable days on hire in the month x Hours per Day, capped at Minimum Monthly Hours.

Hover over the rate on the contract's Details tab to see which type the line is on. If it is Flat Monthly and the line hasn't been invoiced yet, edit the line and choose a type that prorates. Once it has been invoiced, a Flat Monthly line can't be moved to another rate type. If none of the types prices the deal the way you agreed, use the Manual Pricing method with Manual Billing Lines.

How do stand downs reduce a Minimum Hours Per Month invoice?

The month's minimum becomes (chargeable days on hire in the month - stand down days) x Hours per Day, capped at Minimum Monthly Hours. The stand down hours are not subtracted from the minimum. With 22 chargeable days, 4 stand down days at 100% and 8 Hours per Day, the bill is 18 x 8 = 144 hours, not 160 - 32 = 128. Metered hours above 144 bill at the Excess Hourly Rental Rate. A stand down at less than 100% counts as part days - 4 days at 50% count as 2.

I added a stand down to a Minimum Hours Per Month line but the invoice still charges the full minimum. Why?

The prorated figure is capped at Minimum Monthly Hours. If the month's chargeable days x Hours per Day is well above the minimum, the first few stand down days only use up that headroom. For example, 22 days x 8 hours is 176 against a 160 hour minimum, so a 1 or 2 day stand down still bills 160. Also check that the stand down is Completed, not Cancelled, and that its days fall on chargeable days for the line's Charge Days Per Week.

What is the real difference between Monthly, Calendar Month and Calendar Month (Annualized)?

Monthly treats every month as 30 chargeable days, so the daily value never changes but a 31 day month bills slightly more than the monthly rate. Calendar Month prorates against the actual month, so a full month always bills exactly the monthly rate and a part month bills its true share. Calendar Month (Annualized) spreads twelve months' rate across 365 days, ignoring charge days entirely, so every day of the year is worth the same.

Why is there no daily rate on my invoice line?

Flat Monthly, Calendar Month, Calendar Month (Annualized) and Minimum Hours Per Month have no daily equivalent - their charge is not days times a daily figure - so Latner leaves the calculated and adjusted daily rate columns empty rather than printing a misleading number.

Latner won't let me change the rate type. Why?

Rate fields lock once the line has been invoiced, and after that the rate can only change through Rate Adjustment. A rate adjustment can't move a line to or from Flat Monthly or Minimum Hours Per Month, because neither can reconcile what has already been billed against another type's maths. To change the rate itself after invoicing, while keeping the same rate type, see How to Make a Rental Rate Adjustment. If no rate type fits the deal, use the Manual Pricing method with Manual Billing Lines - see When No Rate Type Fits the Deal above.

Do 24 hour rate types work on a Sub Hire?

Not on the supplier side. Daily (24 hr) and Weekly (24 hr) are available for customer billing, including the customer side of a Sub Hire Equipment line, but a sub hire supplier rate offers only the standard types.

What happens if a meter reading is missed on a Minimum Hours Per Month line?

Latner assumes exactly the minimum hours were used that month and carries the reading forward. When the next real reading arrives, the accumulated usage is compared against the minimum that should have built up by then, so the excess is caught up rather than lost.