The council, the university and the spreadsheet
You won a place on a public sector framework, or a large company agreed a schedule of prices for its regular print: leaflets by quantity, A4 booklets by page count, business cards per box, posters by size. The schedule is a spreadsheet attached to the contract. It sits on the shared drive and in the heads of the two people who negotiated it.
Most jobs from the client are priced correctly. Some are priced from standard rates because the estimator did not realise the customer was on the card. Some items are not on the card at all, and each estimator handles those differently. At the annual review the client's procurement team finds invoices that do not match the schedule, and you spend weeks explaining.
Why rate cards drift
A rate card is a promise about price, but the estimating process usually knows nothing about it. It is applied by people remembering to look.
- Rate cards live in documents, not in the estimating tool or MIS.
- Different departments or cost centres at the client may not be recognised as the same account.
- Items outside the card are priced ad hoc, with no agreed approach.
- Annual price reviews are applied late or partially.
- Invoices are not checked against the card before they are sent.
Framework and key account work also tends to come with reporting obligations, such as spend by department or by product, which is hard to produce when prices were applied inconsistently in the first place.
What inconsistent pricing costs
Overcharging a contract client is a serious problem for the relationship and can put the contract itself at risk at renewal. Undercharging is margin you agreed to and then gave away. Procurement queries take senior people's time. And the client's confidence in you, which is what got you the contract, is spent on arguments about line items.
Rate cards built into pricing
- Each rate card is loaded as a price schedule: product, specification, quantity breaks and price, with its start and end dates.
- All the client's accounts, departments and cost centres are linked to the card, so any order from them is recognised.
- When a job is estimated or ordered, the engine matches it to the card and applies the agreed price. The estimator sees that a rate card price was used.
- Specifications that fall between or outside card items are flagged, and priced using a rule you agree with the client, such as nearest item plus a stated method, so off-card pricing is consistent.
- Annual uplifts or reviews are applied from their effective date, with the old and new schedules both kept.
- Invoices are checked against the card before sending, and any difference is shown to accounts to confirm or correct.
- Contract reports, such as spend by department and product, come straight from the priced jobs.
| Step | Today | With rate cards in pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Recognise the client | Estimator remembers | Accounts linked to the card |
| Apply the price | Look up the spreadsheet | Matched automatically |
| Off-card items | Priced differently each time | Agreed rule, flagged |
| Price review | Applied late | Effective date on the schedule |
| Invoice check | None | Checked against the card |
Contract work you can defend
Every job for a contract client is priced the way the contract says, and anything off-card is priced by a rule both sides understand. Procurement queries become rare and quick to answer. You can report spend to the client in the form they need without a week of spreadsheet work. And when you bid for the next framework, you can say plainly how your pricing will be applied and checked.
Does this sound familiar?
- Your rate cards are spreadsheets attached to contracts.
- A client's procurement team has queried prices against the schedule.
- Different departments at the same client are priced differently.
- Price reviews take a while to reach your invoices.
- Off-card items are priced differently by each estimator.