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Features   
Calculate rates for any equipment or service
Calculate budgeted hourly rates for any printing and packaging equipment or service.
Gain insight into your true costs
Get a detailed breakdown of every cost component that composes your hourly rates.
Works with any estimating software
Provides budgeted hourly rates (BHRs) required by any estimating & costing MIS/ERP software.
Fast and easy
No accounting knowledge needed. Update your budgeted hourly rates in just minutes!
Benchmark against other companies
Benchmark your labor, factory, and overhead costs and BHRs against other companies.
Increase Good Sales, Eliminate Bad Sales
Win more orders with higher profit and contribution margins.
Built-in industry "Blue Book" rates study
Includes cost and rates studies for thousands of equipment and services for comparisons.
Import your data
Effortlessly importing your spreadsheets, income statements, budgets, and other data.
Find the best pricing strategy
Create various cost and material markups and pricing strategies using your budget.
Project your profitability
Create income statement based on your budget with projected profit margins and ratios.
Create multiple sets of rates
Manage rates and costs for multiple companies, divisions, locations, or what-if scenerios.
Track changes in costs and rates
See how your rates and costs have changed over time and why.
Satisfaction guarantee or your money back!
If you're not happy within the first 30 days, for any reason, we'll refund all of your money.
FREE expert consulting support
You receive support from a real live Profectus industry business consultant, for any reason.
Makes Spreadsheets Obsolete
Cost Rates Advisor is considerably easier, faster, and more reliable than spreadsheets.
Secure, Protected, and Confidential
Profectus employs strict security policies to your account and data.
Works anywhere you do 24/7/365
Cost Rates Advisor runs in the cloud. Use it anywhere with a browser and internet.
Frequently Asked Questions
The answers to common questions about budgeted hourly rates and Cost Rates Advisor.
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Budgeted hourly rates, cost analysis, and benchmarking software for printing and packaging businesses.
Boost sales and profits with reliable budgeted hourly rates in your estimating, pricing, and costing software!
CRA Screens
A printing organization’s costs are constantly fluctuating as expenses, staffing, workloads, equipment, materials, and product demands change. As costs change, so should the budgeted hourly rates used by your estimating, costing, pricing, and MIS/ERP software.

This may sound obvious, but considering the industry’s competitive environment, outdated rates that are off just a few dollars can have a substantial impact on whether or not you win orders or make a profit.

Cost Rates Advisor solves this problem. It uses your financial and production information to calculate the out-of-pocket cost and budgeted hourly rates of equipment and services; the BHR cost rates needed by your estimating, costing, pricing, and MIS/ERP software.
Get Started
Highlights
  • Calculates budgeted hourly rates for any equipment or service.
  • Works with all estimating, costing, pricing, and MIS/ERP software.
  • Analyzes your labor, factory overhead, and other key costs.
  • Benchmarks your company costs and rates against others.
  • Used by hundreds of printing and packaging companies.
  • Update your budgeted hourly rates in just minutes.
  • Helps you win more orders and with higher profit margins.
  • 100% Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee for 30 days.
4 Ways You'll Benefit From
Cost Rates Advisor
Gain insight into the true costs of your equipment and services.
Get a detailed breakdown of every cost component and budgeted hourly rate including:
  • fixed factory costs
  • variable factory costs
  • selling, general & administrative (SG&A) costs
  • assets depreciation costs
  • breakeven, out-of-pocket costs
  • factory budgeted hourly rates
  • SG&A budgeted hourly rates
  • all-inclusive budgeted hourly rates
"If your rates are inaccurate or outdated, so are your estimates, price markups, job costs, job profitability, commissions, and other key reports."
Sign up now!
  • Komori sheetfed presss budgeted hourly rate
  • HP Indigo budgeted hourly rate
  • Vutek budgeted hourly rate
  • Mark Andy flexo press budgeted hourly rate
  • Ricoh didgital presss budgeted hourly rate
  • Bobst die cutter budgeted hourly rate
  • Delivery budgeted hourly rate
  • Horizon stitcher budgeted hourly rate
  • MBO folder budgeted hourly rate
Say goodbye to outdated rates, estimates, price markups, and costing reports!

Your costs are constantly changing. Which means the budgeted hourly cost rates in your MIS/ERP software should also change.

If you haven't updated the rates in your MIS/ERP software in the last 6-12 months, all of your cost-based calculations, reports, and benchmarks are likely incorrect including:
  • Estimating labor, factory, SG&A, and other costs.
  • Establishing prices based on costs and markups.
  • Calculating cost based or value-added based commissions.
  • Tracking and reporting job labor, factory, spoilage, and other costs.
  • Tracking and reporting profitability of jobs, products, customers, etc.
  • Calculating the valuation work-in-process or finished goods.
  • Measuring the cost effectiveness of employees, equipment, and production.
  • Any screen, report, or data based on a budgeted hourly cost rate.
Cost Rates Advisor solves this problem. It makes it easy to keep your budgeted hourly rates updated! With just a few clicks, import or input your latest expenses and other accounting data, and watch as your rates are instantly updated !

By leveraging rates that reflect your current financials, you'll generate more accurate estimates, make informed pricing decisions, and win more "Good Sales" with optimal profit margins.
Easy to update and maintain your rates

Try it for a month risk free!

If you're not 100% happy within the first 30 days of your purchase, for any reason, we'll refund your money. What do you have to lose?
Robust and flexible enough to work for any printing or packaging equipment or service!
Robust and flexible
Any equipment or service.
  • prepress
  • sheetfed presses
  • web presses
  • digital presses
  • large format
  • flexographic presses
  • screen presses
  • ink-jet presses
  • copiers
  • rewinders
  • cutters
  • die cutting
  • folders
  • gluers
  • binders
  • laminating
  • inserters
  • sorters
  • mailing
  • handwork
  • kitting
  • warehousing
  • fulfillment
  • and more.

Any industry segment.
  • commercial printers
  • digital printers
  • in-plant operations
  • sign printers
  • large format
  • packaging converters
  • flexographic packaging
  • folding carton printers
  • label printers
  • playing cards printers
  • publication printers
  • book printers
  • screen printers
  • newspaper printers
  • pre-press trade
  • bindery trade
  • business forms
  • and more.
Benchmark your costs and BHRs
against the competition and industry.
  • Benchmark your labor, factory, and overhead costs and budgeted hourly rates against hundreds of other companies and industry studies.
  • A Competitive Cost Score benchmarks your rates against the median value of data collected from other companies.
  • Compare individual equipment and services.
  • Compare your entire plant to similar companies.
  • Find out if and where your costs are higher or lower than the competition and industry?
  • Provides the information you needed to support markup and pricing strategies.
blue book study
Compare your costs and rates
Built-in "Blue Book" studies.
  • Prepress, design, proofing, and platemaking.
  • Sheetfed and web offset presses.
  • Digital cut sheet and roll production and injet presses.
  • Large format printing and finishing equipment.
  • Flexographic presses, rewinders, and shrink sleeve equipment.
  • Die cutting, stripping, and folder glueing equipment.
  • Finishing, coating, binding, mailing equipment and services.
  • Apparel & embroidery equipment and services.
  • Handwork, assembly, kitting, and fulfillment services.
  • and much more.
Sign up now    Schedule a Demo
5 Stars
The best software investment & ROI.
"Cost Rates Advisor is the best software investment our company has ever made! It opened our eyes to where we are making and losing money and reinforces our pricing strategy."
- Blake, CFO
5 Stars
Significantly improved revenue and profits.
"CostRatesAdvisor significantly improved our pricing decisions, revenue, and profitability. We're processing less orders, but at higher profit margins. We learned the hard way."
- John, President
5 Stars
The best software that can benchmark.
"It's the only software that can benchmark our costs and BHRs against other companies, and tell us where we are effective, and where we need to sharpen prices."
- Kathy, Accountant
Boost "Good Sales"
Eliminate "Bad Sales"
Cost Rates Advisor tells you the minimum amount you must charge for your equipment and services in order to cover your operating costs and break-even, but more importantly, what you need to charge to make a profit.

Having better information will sharpen your pricing decisions and enable you to focus on the higher profit work or "good sales" and avoid the least lucrative work.

"Knowing your true costs is key for competitively and profitably pricing jobs, and running a successful business."

Import Wizard Import your data. Save time & money
  • The Data Import Wizard will save you hours of manual entries by importing your spreadsheets, income statements, budgets, payroll, fixed assets, and other data directly into Cost Rates Advisor.
  • Use our pre-formatted import templates or your own spreadsheets using field matching functionality.
  • With just a few clicks, your budgeted hourly cost are automatically updated in just minutes!
  • import
  • Import data from spreadsheets or software products such as QuickBooks, ADP, PAYCHEX, MIS Software, Pace, Enterprise 32, Avanti, Monarch, Radius, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Accounting, and other products.
Update your budgeted hourly rates now!
  • Import your data Screen1
  • Import your data Screen2
Reconcile your rates with your financials

Create an income statement based on your budgeted hourly rates and see your projections including.
  • Net and gross profits
  • Factory costs & ratios
  • Material costs & ratios
  • SG&A costs & ratios
  • Sales per Factory employee
  • Sales per SG&A employee
  • Profit per Factory employee
  • Profit per SG&A employee
  • Value Added per employee
  • Payroll analysis
  • and more...
Schedule a free meeting with a consultant.
financial statements from your budget

"Cost Rates Advisor is the #1 budgeted hourly rates and cost analysis software for printing and packaging businesses."

Join hundreds of other users.
Cost Rates Advisor is used by hundreds of printing and packaging organizations and consultants throughout the North America and the world!
advocate
anstadt
Blitzprint
Brown Printing
cjkgroup
command
copresco
DATA Communications
derbycity
flsun
gilson
greenwell
hatteras
hkm
Knight Abbey
Liberty Creative Solutions
lahlouh
MWI Direct
simon
nutis
oneil
wilen
sheridan
simon
smyth
spectrum
Strategic Factory
Tailored Label
wilen
5 Stars
Key component for continuing to grow and profit

Cost Rates Advisor gives us a clear picture of our costs and supports our pricing strategy. It’s a key component for continuing to grow and profit.
5 Stars
Why re-invent the wheel?

Why re-invent the wheel? Cost Rates Advisor is so much easier than my old spreadsheet. All the formulas are already included. Plus, it does a whole lot more.
5 Stars
Increased sales and profits within a few months

We noticed an increase in sales and profit margins within a few months of setting up our BHRs and using them in our EFI estimating software.
5 Stars
So easy, we update BHRs every few months.

Updating our rates was such a big ordeal we only did it every 3 or more years using spreadsheets. CostRatesAdvisor is so easy; we now update them every few months.
More customers and reviews >
Makes Spreadsheets Obsolete.


No need to reinvent the wheel with complicated and unwieldly spreadsheets. Cost Rates Advisor is considerably easier, faster, and more reliable than spreadsheets.
  • Embedded with industry best practices formulas.
  • Easy to add, change, and remove equipment as your company changes.
  • Data is automatically verified during entry.
  • Intuitive and easy user interface, and detailed online help.
  • Pulldown menus, buttons, and mouse control.
  • Over 20 easy-to-read preformatted reports.
blue book study
Secure, Protected, and Confidential.
Profectus takes security of our systems, infrastructure, operations, and data very seriously.
  • We employ strict security policies to protect your data including 256-bit SSL/TLS encryption and other defenses against unauthorized access and malicious attacks.
  • Your information is held in strict confidentiality and is protected using the highest levels of security.
  • Your data is yours – we do not, and will not sell your company information.
Works anywhere you do 24/7/365 !
Start immediately
Because Cost Rates Advisor runs in the cloud you can start using it right away from anywhere with internet.
  • Cost Rates Advisor can be accessed from anywhere, anytime including your office, home, accountant's office, or favorite coffee house.
  • There's no software to install, no downloads, and you automatically receive the latest enhancements at no extra cost.
  • You can use a PC, MAC, notebook, iPad, or tablet with internet access and a compatible browser. (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari)
  • Includes FREE Live consulting and support from an industry expert.
Start calculating my BHRs now!
Includes FREE expert consulting support
All customers receive live support from one of Profectus' expert printing and packaging industry business consultants. You can speak with a real live consultant for any reason.
  • Help on setting up and using Cost Rates Advisor.
  • Free reviews of your costs and rates with an expert consultant.
  • Advice on best practices for implementing and managing rates.
  • Maximizes the benefits of Cost Rates Advisor to improve your organization.
Schedule a free meeting with a consultant.
Live Consulting Support
Frequently Asked Questions

Expand Content What are budgeted hourly cost rates?

Budgeted hourly rates (BHRs) are necessary to accurately and confidently estimate, price, and cost orders, so that you can be more competitive and profitable. They are a best practice used by the printing and packaging industry for over 100 years.

BHRs are the hourly cost rate in which you must sell your equipment or services in order to break-even or recover your out-of-pocket costs. Some organizations make the mistake of using rates from publications or use outdated rates.

The primary goal of BHRs and the Cost Rates Advisor is to recover 100% of your expenses with the production hours you sell to customers. Cost Rates Advisor does this by distributing all of your expenses (wages, leases, depreciation, supplies, utilities, insurance, etc.) among each piece of equipment or cost center; and then recovering those expenses based on the equipment production hours you expect to sell.

Inaccurate rates can cause you to:

  • Price without a clear understanding of your true costs
  • Overprice and lose beneficial and profitable work
  • Sell orders below your cost and lose profits
  • Be deceived by your estimating and costing figures
Expand Content Why do I need budgeted hourly cost rates and Cost Rates Advisor?

If you're reading this, you probably already know that developing BHRs is a time consuming and often dreadful process; finding and gathering the required information, determining how to allocate expenses, and getting management approval on the new rates. This is the main reason why so many companies neglect to update their BHRs on a timely basis. Nevertheless, accurate BHRs are essential for estimating, sales, costing, and ultimately profitability.

We know the pain. For over 25 years, our consultancy had been calculating hourly cost rates for our customers using substandard software and homemade spreadsheets. We needed a more robust tool, flexible enough to handle the unique needs of any printing or packaging company, and easy to use. So we developed Cost Rates Advisor.

Cost Rates Advisor will:

  • Give you an accurate picture of your true costs so you can confidently and strategically estimate, price, and cost jobs
  • Ensure all of your costs are fully absorbed and accounted for in estimates, quotes, job costs, and accounting reports
  • Confirm that 100% of your expenses are recovered in the production hours you charge to customers
  • Help you be more competitive on the desirable profitable work, and avoid the less lucrative work
  • Provide a catalyst for measuring the performance and cost effectiveness of your organization
  • Determine the rates needed for your estimating and job costing software (Enterprise 32, Monarch, Avanti, EPace, CRC, Radius, Globe-Tek, Printsmith, Franklin, etc.)
Expand Content What types of equipment and companies does CostRatesAdvisor calculate budgeted hourly rates for?

CostRatesAdvisor is used by hundreds of printing and packaging organizations and consultants throughout the North America and the world. It calculates Budgeted Hourly Rates for ANY printing or packaging equipment or service including:

Equipment and services: prepress, design, proofing, sheetfed presses, web presses, flexographic presses, digital printers, large format printers, screen presses, high volume production printers, cutters, folders, stitchers, perfect binders, collators, folder gluers, die cutters, foil stamping, extrusion, inspection stations, rewinders, embroidering, embossing, grommeting, sewing, cellophane windowing, film laminating, drills, shrink-wrapping, handwork, fulfillment, warehousing, hand assembly, kitting, packing, delivery…

Businesses and processes: sheetfed and web offset printing, digital printing, large format printing, flexographic printing, inkjet printing, label printing, packaging, folding carton printing, apparel & embroidery, corrugated printing, UV printing, newspaper, publication printing, POP printing, banner printing, sign printing, screen printing, rotogravure printing, in-plant operations, mailing, prepress trade, finishing trade, photography studio…

Expand Content What information do I need to figure my budgeted hourly cost rates?

You will need to enter or import the following information:

  • Equipment list or cost centers, available production hours, and square foot occupied
  • Assets list with equipment investment costs and depreciation - fixed assets
  • Company expenses typically from an income statement or operating budget
  • Employee list with annual wages and benefits
  • Allocations of employees, expenses, and assets (overhead, occupancy, department, or cost center)
Expand Content How long will it take to enter and figure my budgeted hourly cost rates?

This depends primarily on how organized and available your information is. If your information is available, the average size company can take between 2-5 hours to import or enter the information, set up the allocations, and finalize budgeted hourly cost rates.

Expand Content How do costs get allocated?

Cost Rates Advisor gives you the flexibility of allocating costs a number of methods manually or automatically using built in industry best practice formulas.

Company Sales & Administrative Overhead Costs - Managers, salespeople, office employees, office furniture, supplies, advertising, utilities, automobile expenses, and asset depreciation can be allocated as indirect Sales and Administration Overhead costs. These expenses are automatically allocated to each cost center proportionately.

Building Occupancy Costs - Building leases, mortgages, building repairs & maintenance, real estate taxes, maintenance employees, and other building expenses can be allocated to Building Occupancy. This determines your building occupancy cost per square and are recovered based the square feet assigned and occupied by each cost center.

General Factory Overhead Costs - General Factory Overhead can include a plant manager that oversees all of manufacturing, a scheduler that schedules the plant, maintenance employees, an air conditioning system, general factory supplies shared by all factory departments, and a paper trim waste and bailing system. These expenses are automatically disseminated to each cost center.

Department Costs - Supplies, shared equipment in a department, department supervisors can be allocated to a department as direct manufacturing costs. Department costs are automatically disseminated to each cost center in the department.

Cost Centers Costs - Equipment operators, helpers, repairs and maintenance, and equipment asset depreciation that are specific to a cost center can be allocated directly to that cost center as direct manufacturing costs.

Labor Costs - Direct and indirect employee labor wages and benefits costs can be manually or automatically allocated to any of the categories described above. You can even split costs up between multiple categories. For example, a department supervisor can be split between SG&A, multiple departments, and/or multiple cost centers.

Expand Content What if I need help setting up my budgeted hourly cost rates?

Cost Rates Advisor includes easy to understand online help screens, a Quick Start Guide, and a detail Users Manual to help you setup, maintain, and implement your cost rates. You can also contact our expert consultants for advice or questions through our online Support Request Form.

We also offer more in-depth one-on-one professional consulting for an additional fee. This includes printing industry expert consultant assigned to your account, personal phone consultations, advice on best practices, what to include and exclude in your rates, a review of your finished cost rates, approaches for implementing new cost rates, and more.

Expand Content What estimating, job costing, MIS, or accounting software does Cost Rates Advisor work with?

The Cost Rates Advisor has the ability to import data from software products like EFI Pace, Enterprise 32, Avanti, Printsmith, Monarch, Radius, Franklin, QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Sage Accounting, and other products using the Data Import Wizard. The Data Import Wizard has Import Spreadsheet Templates and field mapping functionality that enables you to import income statements, payroll information, fixed assets, cost centers, and other data from a spreadsheet or a .csv file directly into the Cost Rates Advisor database.

Expand Content How often should I update my hourly cost rates?

The industry best practice is to update your hourly cost rates at least every 6 months or anytime there are increases or changes in expenses, equipment, staffing, utilities, and other expenses. This will help you constantly recover out-of-pocket costs, forecast profitability, manage your company, and improve your bottom line.

Expand Content How secure is my information? Can other people see or steal my information?

The Cost Rates Advisor runs on a secure SSL-protected website with 256-bit encryption, providing one of the highest levels of security and authentication. Your financial and personal information is encrypted and protected so other parties cannot gain access to your sensitive and confidential data.

Expand Content If I'm not satisfied, can I get my money back?

You can cancel your subscription at any time, regardless of the reason, and you will no longer be billed for future charges associated with your subscription. If you're not 100% happy within the first 30 days of your purchase, for any reason, we'll refund your money. What do you have to lose?

Expand Content Can I upgrade my plan?

Absolutely! You're in full control of what plan you would like and you can easily upgrade your account from within the account manager dashboard.


Quick Start Service Optional Quick Start Service
Let Profectus do all the work for you! Our specialists will take hours or days off your to-do list!
For a faster implementation & ROI, jumpstart the full potential of Cost Rates Advisor by having Profectus enter your data, build your rates and provide an analysis of your costs and financial situation.
  • Review, analyze, and enter your financial and production information
  • Provide training on Cost Rates Advisor
  • Discuss implementing your updated BHRs
  • Provide recommendations for improving your bottom line
  • Discuss mark-up and pricing strategies for your products and services
Get an instant quote and free consultation
Quick Start Service Consultant
Profectus, Inc. · Sarasota, Florida · United States · Phone: 1-888-868-8662
Business management consultants specializing in the printing & packaging industry since 1993.
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