Labor Type represents a category of Labor you provide, like "Installation" or "Programming." Once created, this Labor Type is used as the basis for all labor estimates in Cloud. In this article, we will discuss the following:
What is a Labor Type
How to create a Labor Type
How to edit a Labor Type
How to change your global Labor Type rates in a Quote
What is a Labor Type?
A Labor Type is made up of the following information.
Name - This is generally how you refer to this type of Labor and is how it is displayed in Proposals. Ex. "Installation" or "Programming."
Phase - The installation phase this Labor is completed in.
Hourly Cost and Price - This hourly "rate" will be used against a duration of time to calculate your estimates when this Labor Type is used in the Catalog or a Quote.
Taxable - Is this labor taxable?
Billable - Is this labor billable?
You can create as many Labor Types as you would like. As part of adding Labor to a product, you will first be asked to choose a Labor Type. A Labor Type itself is not Labor but a global definition of a type of Labor that is combined with a time estimate (hours, minutes, and seconds) and an optional project phase to include Labor on an item.
Add Labor Type
You can add the Labor Types you want for your Project before you start Quoting or directly in the Quotes.
Add Labor Types Before Quoting
Labor Types can be created and edited from Catalog > Labor Types or Settings > Catalog > Labor Types in the left-side navigation bar of the application.
Once on the page, click "Add Labor Type" or "New Labor Type", depending on the page you are on.
The following is a screenshot of the modal to add a Labor Type.
The name you assign will appear in Reports, Proposals, and Dashboards.
Phase is optional at this point and serves as a default selection when this Labor Type is used to assign Labor to products, services, and allowances. It can always be overridden.
A description can be added to the Labor Type to help differentiate between labor types in the list.
After creating your Labor Type, you are ready to create as many Labor Types as you feel necessary to track the various categories of Labor you sell.
Create Labor Type in a Quote
D-Tools Cloud has been designed to get you quoting and selling quickly. Like many other settings such as phase, locations, or taxes, you can set up Labor Types directly via the quoting experience. The new Labor Type is automatically stored in your list of Labor Types for use in other quotes.
To add a Labor Type in a quote, click "Create a new labor type" in the Labor Summary.
Edit Labor Type
To edit a Labor Type, you follow much the same approach as you do for creating a Labor Type through Settings or Catalog.
Click on any existing Labor Type to view and edit all information related to the Labor Type.
Note that when you hover your cursor over an existing Labor Type, a "More" option, displayed as three horizontal dots, appears, which gives you quick access to "Edit," "Duplicate", "Set as default", and "Delete" actions.
Setting a Labor Type as default automatically adds the Labor Type to all Quotes.
Change Labor Type rates in a Quote
Changes you make to a Labor Type in a Quote will automatically reflect in your Catalog; however, they will not impact any current Quotes using the Labor Type.
When adding Labor to a Quote, we "freeze" that rate specific to that Quote. The Labor rates for each of the Labor Types being used in a Quote can be managed separately from the global list allowing you to increase or decrease your Labor rate specifically for a single Quote without affecting the global list.
Remove Labor Type rates in a Quote
Removing a Labor Type in a quote will only remove it from that specific Quote. To globally remove a Labor Type (impacting all quotes), that can be done in the general Settings > Labor section.
Deleting a Labor Type directly in the Quote will remove it from any attached products and set its billed hours to zero, but it will still be visible. To entirely remove a Labor Type in a Quote, first, navigate to a Quote. Next, click the gear icon in the bottom left corner.
In the window that opens, scroll down to Labor Types. This displays current Labor Types used in the Quote, and you have the option to delete these labor types.