Creating Rate File

The Rate File is one of the key components of ECOS.

In the Rate File you are able to define your labour rates and facilities rates but also your various overheads and profit.

The structure of your rates are normally regulated by the promulgation letter of the ESA industrial auditors.

A rate file is created based on the economic conditions of the promulgation letter that you have received. You may also need to create other versions of your rate file based on different economic conditions as required for specific ITTs. This is done based on the rate revision formula included in the promulgation letter. 

It is recommended to create a small test project with a single WP that will allow you to verify the correctness of the values and settings.

You will need a rate file set with the same economic conditions as that of the project that you are creating or the ITT file that you have received.

You can do a backup and restore your rate file as needed, and will be able to send it to your colleagues (after having verified it ofcourse!).

Yearly escalation tables can be associated to the various rates of the rate file. They will be taken into account to calculate the provision for the escalation reported on line 11 of the PSS-A2 form for firm fixed price commitments. The escalation tables only apply to the years that come after the year of economic conditions.

Any company bidding in firm ficed price will need such escalation tables.

Yearly variation tables also exist and can be used in more rare cases where the company has to account for structural changes during the validity period of the rates. This can be the case for a start-up company with a fast-evolving structure or a mature company implementing a competitiveness improvement plan over several years. Contrary to escalation tables, variations can apply both to rates and overhead percentages.

Variation and escalation are two independent phenomena that can be applied in parallel.

If the tables of rates and overheads per year have been negotiated with ESA Auditors and have been included with the promulgation letter, it is recommended to reconstruct the corresponding variation and escalation tables to fully benefit from the ECOS functionalities. In this case you will just have to focus on the start and end dates of the WP together with the price type and expenses distribution type and ECOS will calculate how many hours have to apply to each of the yearly rates. This also holds true for applying global schedule changes on WBS branches. Allocations of yearly hours and their corresponding prices are recalculated error-free in a matter of seconds.