Costs: rates, fixed costs, accrual

Microsoft Project calculates cost the same way every time: hours times a rate, plus any per-use charge, plus any fixed cost on the task. The total is rarely the hard part. The hard part is timing. Whether a cost lands on the first day of a task, spreads across it, or waits until the end decides the shape of the cash-flow forecast an owner gives its lender or its finance team. This lesson covers rates, fixed costs and the accrual settings that control when each dollar appears.

Learning outcomes

• Enter standard, overtime and per-use rates for work and material resources, including rate changes by date.
• Add fixed costs to tasks and to the project summary task, and read the result in the Cost table.
• Explain the Start, Prorated and End accrual methods and set them for resources and fixed costs.
• Choose the right cost field for each kind of owner cost on a construction project.

The lesson

How Project builds a task's cost

A task's Cost is the sum of its assignment costs and its fixed cost. Each work resource assignment costs its work multiplied by the resource's standard rate, plus overtime work at the overtime rate, plus the resource's cost per use [1]. Material resources work the same way, with a rate per unit instead of per hour [1]. On top of that, any amount in the task's Fixed Cost field is added directly [1]. Costs appear only after resources are assigned: a task with no assignments and no fixed cost shows $0 [1]. Figure 1 shows the build-up on one Northgate task.

View the data

Part	Calculation	Amount	Timing set by
Rate-based cost	50 h × $95/h	$4,750	Resource Accrue At
Overtime cost	0 h × Ovt. Rate	$0	Resource Accrue At
Per-use cost	1 assignment × $250	$250	Always at task start
Fixed cost	Entered on task	$1,150,000	Fixed Cost Accrual
Task Cost	Sum	$1,155,000

Rates on the Resource Sheet

Open View, Resource Sheet, with the Entry table showing (View, Tables, Entry) [1]. For a work resource, type the rate in Std. Rate as an hourly or daily figure, such as $95.00/h or $760.00/d, and the overtime rate in Ovt. Rate if you plan to track overtime [1]. Cost/Use is a flat charge added once for each assignment, on top of the hourly cost [1]. For a material resource, set Type to Material, enter a unit label in the Material column, such as "cu. m" or "ea", and enter the price per unit in Std. Rate [1].

The resources themselves, their types and Max. Units, come from Lesson 16; how assignment units and work are set comes from Lesson 17. This lesson adds the money.

Rate changes: cost rate tables

Rates change. A testing agency's rate may rise on January 1; a union rate may rise on May 1. Double-click the resource to open Resource Information and select the Costs tab. Each resource has five cost rate tables, A (the default) through E [1][3]. In a table, add a row for each change with its Effective Date, Standard Rate, Overtime Rate and Per Use Cost; Project uses whichever row is in force on the day the work is scheduled [1]. You can also enter a change as a percentage in the Standard Rate cell [1].

Tables B to E hold alternative rate sets, such as a premium rate for night pours. To apply one to a single assignment, open the Task Usage view, select the assignment, open its Information, and choose the table on the Costs tab, or add the Cost Rate Table column to the view [1][4]. One caution from Microsoft: changing a standard rate also changes the cost of tasks that are already 100% complete [1]. Use a dated row instead of overwriting the rate.

Fixed costs on tasks

A fixed cost is an amount tied to a task, not to any resource. Open the Gantt Chart, switch to the Cost table (View, Tables, Cost), and type the amount in the Fixed Cost column of the task [1]. For a project-level cost that belongs to no single task, turn on the project summary task (Format tab, Project Summary Task) and enter the amount on that row [1].

Be careful with fixed costs on ordinary summary tasks. Project adds a summary task's own fixed cost to the costs rolled up from its subtasks, which makes double counting easy. Put fixed costs on detail tasks, or on the project summary task, and nowhere in between.

Accrual: when the cost lands

Two settings control timing, and they are separate:

• Accrue At is a resource field, on the Resource Sheet and on the Costs tab of Resource Information. It controls when standard and overtime costs are charged to the task. Start charges them when the task starts; Prorated, the default, charges them as work is scheduled and reported; End holds them until remaining work is zero [2]. Per-use costs always accrue at the start of the task, whatever Accrue At says [2].
• Fixed Cost Accrual is a task field on the Cost table, with the same three choices [5]. Microsoft's example: a $30 fixed cost over three days lands all on day one with Start, all on day three with End, and $10 a day with Prorated [5]. The default for new tasks is set in File, Options, Schedule, under the calculation options for the project [5][6].

Accrual does not change totals. It changes timephased cost, which is what the Task Usage and Resource Usage views, cash-flow reports and later the earned value fields read. Pick the method that matches how the money really moves. A consultant paid only on delivery is End [2]. A crew paid weekly is Prorated. A deposit paid on order is Start.

Screenshot to come

Northgate worked example

Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional) has a Contract Price of $34,950,000 and an owner contingency of $3,050,000, a $38,000,000 construction budget excluding HST (see the Northgate fact sheet). Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) holds a CCDC 2-2020 stipulated price contract, so the owner does not pay crew rates; it pays progress claims against the contract. That shapes how costs go into the owner's master in Microsoft Project desktop.

What goes where

Figure 3 is the rule the owner's scheduler follows. Contract value is a lump sum spread over the work; until the owner adds the budget comparison in Lesson 20, it goes in as fixed cost on detail tasks. Owner-side services billed by the hour, such as the owner's representative or a materials testing agency engaged by the owner, go in as work resources with rates. Flat charges go in Cost/Use. Contractor crews such as the Concrete crew stay in the file for levelling checks (Lesson 18) but carry no rate, so their hours add no cost the owner does not pay.

One task, priced

Take 3.2 Slab-on-grade, Mon Apr 12 to Fri May 14, 2027 (25 working days). Every value below is illustrative, built for this lesson, not a Northgate fact:

• Fixed Cost: $1,150,000, the slab's share of the Contract Price. Fixed Cost Accrual: Prorated.
• Materials testing technician (owner's testing agency): Std. Rate $95.00/h, Cost/Use $250.00 trip charge, Accrue At Prorated, assigned at 25% for the 25 days, which gives 50 hours of work. A dated row in cost rate table A raises the rate to $99.00/h from Sat Jan 1, 2028, so later commissioning tests price correctly.

Task Cost: 50 h × $95 = $4,750, plus $250 per use, plus $1,150,000 fixed, for $1,155,000 (Figure 1). The $250 lands on Apr 12 regardless of accrual [2].

Why the accrual choice matters

Figure 2 shows the same $1,150,000 fixed cost under each accrual method. With Start, the whole amount sits in the week ending Apr 16. With End, nothing shows until the week ending May 14. With Prorated, $230,000 lands each week. The owner pays Halvorsen monthly against progress, so Prorated is the closest match. Start would make the April forecast $1.15 million too high; End would understate April and pile everything into May.

View the data

Week ending (2027)	Start	Prorated	End
Fri Apr 16	$1,150,000	$230,000	$0
Fri Apr 23	$1,150,000	$460,000	$0
Fri Apr 30	$1,150,000	$690,000	$0
Fri May 7	$1,150,000	$920,000	$0
Fri May 14	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	$1,150,000

Two refinements. First, accrued cost is not cash. The Ontario Construction Act holdback of 10% means the owner pays 90% of each certified amount until holdback is released, and payment follows certification, not the work date. Use the schedule's cost curve as the earned side and model payment timing separately. Second, keep fixed costs excluding HST, matching the fact sheet's budget basis, so totals tie to the $38,000,000.

Screenshot to come

Screenshot to come

Owner's move

• Load only what you pay. Under a stipulated price contract, the owner's file should carry the contract value and the owner's own costs, not the contractor's crew rates.
• Tie the fixed costs to the contract. The fixed costs on construction tasks should add up to the Contract Price and map to the schedule of values in the contractor's progress claims, so the cost curve can be checked against each claim.
• Set accrual on purpose. Prorated for contract work and hourly services, End for deliverables paid on completion, Start only for real up-front payments.
• Date your rate changes. Use cost rate table rows with effective dates. Never overwrite a rate partway through a job.
• Explain the gap between cost and cash. When finance asks why the schedule's April cost is higher than April payments, the answer is holdback and certification timing. Say so in the report.

Common mistakes

1. Fixed costs on summary tasks and on their subtasks. The summary's fixed cost is added to the roll-up, so the total is counted twice.
2. Leaving every accrual at Start or End without thinking. Totals look right; the monthly forecast is wrong.
3. Forgetting that per-use costs always accrue at the start. A large Cost/Use on a long task front-loads cost whatever Accrue At says [2].
4. Overwriting a rate mid-project. Completed tasks are repriced at the new rate [1]. Add an effective-dated row instead.
5. Putting contractor crew rates in the owner's file. They add cost the owner never pays and make the file disagree with the contract.

Quick quiz

1. What is the default Accrue At setting for a resource?

   1. Start
   2. Prorated
   3. End
   4. None

2. A resource has Accrue At set to End and a $250 Cost/Use. When does the $250 accrue?

   1. At the end of the task
   2. Spread over the task
   3. At the start of the task
   4. Only when the task is 100% complete

3. Where do you enter a fixed cost for a task?

   1. Resource Sheet, Cost/Use column
   2. Gantt Chart with the Cost table, Fixed Cost column
   3. Resource Information, Costs tab
   4. Project Information dialog

4. A testing agency's rate rises on January 1. The best way to record it is:

   1. Overwrite Std. Rate on January 1
   2. Add a row with an Effective Date in cost rate table A
   3. Create a second resource
   4. Add a fixed cost to each task

5. For Northgate's contract value carried as fixed cost, which accrual best matches monthly progress payments?

   1. Start
   2. End
   3. Prorated
   4. It makes no difference

Show answers and explanations

1. B. Prorated is the default; Start and End are the alternatives [2].
2. C. Per-use costs always accrue at the start of the task, regardless of Accrue At [2].
3. B. Fixed costs are entered in the Fixed Cost column of the Cost table in a task view [1].
4. B. Effective-dated rows keep past costs at the old rate; overwriting reprices completed work [1].
5. C. Prorated spreads the cost over the task's duration, which follows progress most closely [5].

Key terms

Standard rate (Std. Rate)

The cost per hour (or per unit for a material resource) used for regular work.

Overtime rate (Ovt. Rate)

The rate for work entered as overtime work.

Cost per use (Cost/Use)

A flat charge added once for each assignment of a resource; it always accrues at the task start.

Fixed cost

An amount entered on a task, independent of resources and work.

Accrue At / Fixed Cost Accrual

Settings that decide whether resource costs or fixed costs are charged at the start, prorated over the task, or at the end.

Cost rate table

One of five rate sets (A to E) on a resource, each with rows that take effect on given dates.

References

1. Microsoft. Enter costs for resources. Microsoft Support, Project desktop.
2. Microsoft. Accrue At (resource field). Microsoft Support, Project desktop.
3. MPUG. Understanding and using cost rate tables. Microsoft Project User Group.
4. Microsoft. Cost Rate Table fields. Microsoft Support, Project desktop.
5. Microsoft. Fixed Cost Accrual (task field). Microsoft Support, Project desktop.
6. Microsoft. Application.OptionsCalculation method (Project). Microsoft Learn, Project VBA reference.

Verified on November 6, 2026.

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