- delete a rate item, or restore one that was deleted;
- create and edit categories;
- add your company’s own locations;
- create, edit, import, and issue day rate schedules.
Find rates by category
The Categories filter on the Resource library page is a multi-select checkbox dropdown. Click the button to open the panel, then tick one or more categories to narrow the list. The button label shows what is selected: All categories when nothing is ticked, the category name when one is ticked, or N categories when several are ticked. Each parent group heading in the panel is itself a checkbox. Ticking a heading selects every category under it. A partial selection shows the heading as indeterminate. Clear — show all categories at the top of the panel removes all ticks. The Resource library page has three tabs: Resources, Supplier and internal rates (called Rates below), and Day/Card rates. On both Resources and Rates, the toolbar offers History, Import rates, and Add rate. Resources also offers Add resource. Day/Card rates has its own import action, which only admins see. The toolbar filters (search, category, company, and unit) are shared between the Resources and Rates tabs. Your current filters are reflected in the page URL, so you can bookmark or share a filtered view. In the company filter, your company is the first checkbox, followed by suppliers in alphabetical order. A count beside the filters shows how many rows match. It reads Filtered to N while any filter is active, or Showing all N when none is. The count names resources on the Resources tab and rates on the Rates tab. On Resources, the filters also apply to the prices inside an expanded row. When some prices are hidden, the row shows how many, for example Showing 2 of 5 rates — 3 hidden by filters. Click Show all to see every price for that row, and Apply filters to narrow it again. The Company — Location column header is a sort control on both tabs. Click it to sort by company and location, and click again to reverse the order. In ascending order, your company’s own prices come first, then suppliers alphabetically, with All locations before named places for each company. Rate items with no prices always sort last. The sort is saved in the page URL with your filters. Search scope depends on the tab. In the Rates tab (flat prices view), the field matches item name, supplier item code, category, company, location, and condition. In the Resources tab (grouped item view), it matches item name, category, and the supplier item code on any current or historical option; company and location names are not part of grouped search. Use the company filter when you need the same company constraint in either tab.Browse and find rate items
Each row in the Resources list shows the item name, Company, its category prefixed with the parent group, unit, cost, Last used, and Used in. Click the item name or the expand chevron to open the row and see its priced options.Rate item detail page
Every rate item has its own detail page. The page shows the item’s name, status, and key facts (category, bulking percentage, compaction percentage, maximum payload, and maximum bin volume), followed by its current prices. The prices section works exactly like the expanded row on the rates list. You can add prices using the quick-entry row, edit prices inline, use the option editor (Edit details…), retire options, and rename rate types without going back to the list. You can edit the item’s catalogue fields (name, category, and physical attributes) using the Edit button on the page header. The History button opens a side panel showing every recorded change to the item and its prices, newest first. Scroll down to load earlier changes. If a section of history fails to load, a Retry button appears in the panel. The page can be linked to directly, bookmarked, and opened in a second tab. The expanded row on the rates list includes a link to the item’s page alongside its inline price controls. You can customise which columns are visible and in what order. Click the gear icon in the trailing column header to open the column picker, then tick or untick columns to show or hide them. You can also drag column headers to reorder them and drag column borders to resize them. Your column choices are saved in your browser and persist across sessions. The Cost (NZD) column header names the currency code once. The cost value does not repeat the unit suffix — the Unit column beside it already shows the axis the cost is normalised on. If the item has no prices yet, the cell reads No price yet. If the item’s prices are all exactly $0.00 with no pricing rule applied, the cell shows those figures plus a Zero price badge. On narrow screens, the table switches to a compact card layout where each item’s cost does include the unit suffix, because the Unit column is not visible there. Last used shows how long ago the item was last used in an estimate, for example Today, Yesterday, 3 days ago or 2 weeks ago. Hover over it to see the exact date and time. An item that has never been used shows Not used yet. Used in shows how many estimates use the item, or a dash for none. Neither column sorts. The Company column shows whose prices the item has. Up to three companies are named on one line. With more than three, the cell reads N companies, for example 5 companies. Hover over the cell to see every company. When no options have been priced yet, the cell shows a dash and an orange No locations badge appears beside the item name. While a company, unit, or search filter is active, the cell lists only the companies of the matching prices once the row’s prices have loaded. Where each price applies is in the expanded row, which names the company and place of every price. The Location fact on the rate item detail page lists All locations first when present, followed by any named places. The category cell has a pencil control that opens the item editor. The item editor’s first field is Category, so you can reclassify the item from there.Add a rate item
- Open Rates & resources → Resource library and select the Resources tab.
- Click Add resource.
- Enter the item name.
- Select a Category. Each row is grouped under one of the six parent groups (Labour, Plant & Vehicles, Bulk Materials, Materials, Subcontractors, Disposal). The rate’s group and material status derive from the chosen category’s parent; there is no separate rate-group field or material checkbox.
- Save the rate item.
- Expand the new row and follow Add a rate option to record its first price.
Edit a rate item
- Open the rate row and click the edit control on the header row.
- Edit the catalogue fields: name, category, and the item’s material and vehicle attributes. The rate group is derived from the category and cannot be edited directly.
- Click Save item to apply changes, or Cancel to discard them and close the panel. If you have made changes and click Cancel, Stralos asks you to confirm before discarding.
Search in pickers
The Category field is searchable. Type to filter the list as you would in a search field. The list opens showing all options; as you type, it narrows to matching rows. Pressing Escape or clicking away without selecting a row discards what you typed and leaves the current value unchanged. The category column is plain text. Use the pencil beside it to open the rate-item editor when you need to reclassify the item. From that editor, admins can follow Edit category to maintain the category record itself.Delete a rate item
Only admins can delete a rate item from the rates catalogue. Deletion is available from two places:- The item’s action menu (⋮) in the Resources or Rates tab.
- The Delete item button inside the item editor.
Add a rate option
Each rate item can have multiple rate options — one per pricing owner, location, and modifier combination. Options record whose price it is, where it applies, and what it costs under a given set of conditions. You can open the rate option editor from three places:- The item’s action menu (⋮) on the rates list — select Add rate…. This is available on both the desktop grid and the phone card view.
- The Add rate button in the header of the rate item’s own page.
- The Add rate button in the shared toolbar on the Resources or Rates tab. This version includes a Rate item picker at the top of the side sheet. Select an existing item from the list to seed the form for that item. To create a new item at the same time, choose Add new rate item — the item editor opens in place; saving it passes the new item back to the picker, already selected.
Quick entry
- Expand the rate row. A quick-entry row appears below its existing options.
- In the owner and location picker, choose your company or a supplier, then choose a specific location or All locations. Use Add location to add a place for the selected owner, or Create new supplier when the company does not yet exist. Anyone can add a supplier’s location; only an admin can add one of your company’s own locations.
Night or Weekend.
4. Choose the priced unit. Enter a conversion factor (density) for bulk-material options, the stock size for an option priced in len, roll, or sheet, or the items per pack for a pack option (see Stock units on rate options). Disposal conversion comes from the selected substance, so disposal options show — via substance.
5. Set the basis using the Fixed price / × Standard toggle. For groups that display a Priced as column, the toggle sits in that column; for other groups it sits beside the amount box. Enter the price amount. A hint line below the row shows what pressing Enter will store — for example = $57.50/t or = 1.5 × the Standard price.
6. For a supplier’s price, optionally enter the supplier’s item code. The code field appears only once you pick a supplier’s location, because your own prices have no supplier code. Press Enter or click Add. To record the supplier’s own description for the item, open Edit details after adding. The quick-entry row includes the code field only.
After a successful add, the row keeps the selected owner and location for fast entry from the same price list. Press Escape to clear the draft row.
If the item already has a price for the same supplier, location, and modifier, Stralos shows an error and displays a notification asking you to edit the existing option instead.
Edit an option
You can edit most option values directly in the expanded row. Use the option’s action menu (⋮) and select Edit details… for dates, notes, the supplier item code and name (supplier prices only), and the full pricing controls. Select History from the item’s action menu (⋮) to open a history panel scoped to that rate item, showing every recorded change to the item and its price options with field-level diffs listed newest first. To see changes across the whole catalogue, use the History button in the page header instead. See View and restore rate change history. If the price was imported from a file, Edit details has a Rate sheet field with Open rate sheet. Select it to open the file the price was imported from in a new tab. Anyone who can see the price can open it. If the file can’t be opened, a message under the button asks you to try again. The option details panel slides in from the right and has a Cancel button at the bottom. Click it to discard any changes and close the panel. If you have made changes, Stralos asks you to confirm before discarding. The Valid from field defaults to today’s date in your company’s time zone (Pacific/Auckland by default). When you pick a date, Stralos records the start of that calendar day in your company’s time zone. The Valid until field is set automatically when you retire the option and reflects the retirement instant in your company’s time zone. The expanded row includes a Priced from column showing when the option was last priced. Dates in this column are shown in your company’s time zone (Pacific/Auckland by default). Options priced more than 12 months ago show a Stale price badge. An existing option’s pricing owner and location are fixed because estimate pins and pricing rules refer to that combination. To move a price, retire the option and create another. A non-Standard modifier can be renamed through the Rename… button in the condition column.Rename a rate type
Clicking Rename… opens a name field directly in the condition column. Enter the new name and click Preview rename. A review dialog lists every rate option that will change, and any collisions that must be resolved first. Click Confirm rename to apply, or Back to return to editing the name. The field keeps what you typed — it does not overwrite your entry with the stored key. Rate types accept letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, and underscores, up to 40 characters. The namestandard is reserved and cannot be used.
Stock units on rate options
Price pipe, wire, sheet goods, rolls, and packs in the unit you buy them in. The work item that uses the rate stays in metres, square metres, or items. The rate option carries the conversion:
The other conversions are quarry material density (t/m³) and the working days in a weekly or monthly option (see Weekly and monthly options). Options in any other unit have no conversion, so the conversion field is hidden for them.
Stralos rounds the ordered quantity up to whole stock units for each run. See Whole stock units.
Per-metre prices sold in lengths
A price per metre shows an optional Sold in lengths of (m) field. Fill it in when the item is only sold in set lengths, for example6 for 6 m pipe. Stralos then orders whole lengths at the per-metre price, and the price row reads sold in 6 m lengths. Leave it blank if the item isn’t sold in set lengths, such as cable cut from a reel.
Pack prices
A price per pack needs Items per pack: how many items one pack holds, as a whole number from 1 to 1,000,000. Stralos orders whole packs, rounded up. If you change a price’s unit to pack in the grid and it has no items per pack yet, the full editor opens at Items per pack so you can add it, then save. When the item name or the supplier’s description states a size, Stralos offers it under the field, for example The supplier’s description says 100 in a pack. with Use 100. For a per-metre price it offers a length the same way, for example Use 6 m. Neither is filled in until you select it. Pipe was previously priced per each with a metres-per-each conversion. That conversion no longer applies. Re-price those options per len and enter the metres per length.Weekly and monthly options
An option priced per week or per month shows a Days per week or Days per month field in Edit details. Enter how many working days the price covers, more than 0 and up to 7 (week) or 31 (month), with up to 2 decimals. Leave it blank to use the project default, then the company default. Quarry material and disposal options do not have this field. See Weekly and monthly rate options.Multiplier options
A multiplier option expresses a modifier’s cost as a multiple of the live Standard option for the same owner and location. It inherits the Standard option’s unit and conversion factor. The server calculates the resulting cost;standard itself cannot use a multiplier basis.
Retire an option
Select Retire from the option’s action menu (⋮) or from the full details editor. The option leaves the live list straight away and an Undo banner appears. Select Undo while the banner shows to put it back. The retirement is sent when the banner closes or when you leave the page. If it fails, the option comes back and Stralos says why. Retiring stops the option being offered for new pricing. Prices already recorded in estimates are not erased. If the option is a Standard option, any multiplier options based on it stop following the Standard and keep their current derived pricing. Once retired, you can bring the option back from History, or create a new option to offer it again. In Advanced pricing, removing a quantity break, minimum charge, or loading also shows an Undo banner. Select Undo to put it back before you save the option.Supplier item name
For a supplier’s price, the Edit details panel includes Supplier item code and Supplier item name fields. They appear once you pick a supplier’s location and are hidden for your company’s own prices. If you switch a new option from a supplier to your own company, both fields are cleared. Use Supplier item name to record the supplier’s own description for the item, for example how it appears on their price list. This is separate from the catalogue item name. When you import a later price list from the same supplier, Stralos uses this stored wording to suggest the same library item for any row whose text matches exactly — see How Stralos suggests existing items. When a supplier price has a stored supplier item name that differs from the catalogue item name, it appears as a secondary line on the option row. When the two names match (ignoring case), the secondary line is not shown. When you import rates from a file, the document’s description for a row is carried through as the supplier item name on the created or updated option. Rows assigned to your own company keep no supplier item code or name.Validation
The editor reports missing or invalid values beside the affected field. Conditions accept letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, and underscores. Fixed options require a non-negative cost in the Cost rate field. The Cost rate field shows a$ prefix and a /unit suffix that matches the selected Priced unit, for example Cost rate (NZD per t). It accepts comma-formatted amounts such as 1,234.50 and rounds to 2 decimal places. Entering a negative value, malformed number, or non-numeric text shows an inline error and blocks saving. A unit allowed by the item’s category is also required. Multiplier values must be greater than zero. A conversion factor (density) is required for bulk-material options, and Items per pack for pack options. Disposal conversion comes from the substance, not a conversion factor field. The supplier item name must be 200 characters or fewer.
Resolve an unresolved category
A rate item shows as Unresolved category when its stored category no longer matches a row in the company’s category catalogue — for example after the category was deleted. These items appear in the review queue on the rates page. To resolve them:- Open the rate item and click the edit control. The category picker shows the item’s stored category name so you can see what it used to point at.
- Select a current category from the Category picker.
- Save the item. The group and material status update automatically from the new category’s parent.
Manage categories
Categories group rate items in the library and drive the category filter and search. Each category sits under one of six fixed parent classifications: Labour, Plant & Vehicles, Bulk Materials, Materials, Subcontractors, or Disposal. The displayed headings may use company-specific names. Use Settings → Resource categories to add, rename, move, or delete categories. Creating a category requires its parent resource group and the units that rate options in this category are allowed to use. The unit list in the category editor shows every unit in the catalogue, grouped by type; which ones you tick is your company’s decision and is not restricted by the parent resource group. Tick Select all units to choose every unit, or tick a group’s heading to choose all of that group. The allowed units are enforced in the rate editor: the option-unit picker shows only the permitted values, and saving a rate option with a unit outside the allowed set is blocked. Categories under Plant & Vehicles can be marked as cartage vehicles; this flag cannot be set under other parent headings. Deleting a category removes it from the active tree and the rate editor’s category picker. Stralos keeps the category for history, so estimates that already use it are unaffected. Rates in the library that still reference the deleted category show Unresolved category until reassigned. See Company settings — Resource categories for the complete workflow.Catalogue fields
A rate item has these catalogue fields:
Items whose category no longer resolves against the catalogue have no group. Use the Unresolved category review chip to find and reassign them.
Undo an edit
When you save a change to a price or a rate item, a notification offers Undo. Select it to put the price or item back as it was. Only your last change can be undone: Undo on an earlier notification puts nothing back. A save that also changed the option’s pricing rules offers no Undo. Members can undo their own changes. To bring back a deleted rate item after its Undo banner has closed, an admin uses History.View and restore rate change history
The History button on either the Resources or Rates tab opens a catalogue-wide history panel. It lists every recorded change to rate items and their price options across your entire catalogue, newest first. The panel includes a Search by rate item name field. Type to filter the list to changes on a matching item. Pagination controls appear at the bottom when more than 50 entries exist. Use the Show filter to choose Show: All changes or Show: Deleted. Show: Deleted lists deleted rate items and retired prices. It filters the history loaded so far, so while older entries remain, the panel says so and offers Load more. The per-item history panel has the same filter. Each entry shows:- The item name and whether the change was to the item itself or to one of its price options.
- The action: created, updated, or deleted.
- The date and time of the change.
- For price options, a summary line showing the condition, pricing owner, location, and (for supplier prices) the supplier item code.
- A field-level diff for updates, showing the old and new value for each changed field.
Restore a previous state
You can restore a previous state directly from the history panel. A Restore button appears on each entry where a restore is possible:- Restore previous values — appears on updated entries. Applies the old field values and records a new change in history.
- Restore rate item — appears on deleted rate item entries. Re-creates the item in the catalogue. Only admins can restore a deleted rate item.
- Restore rate — appears on deleted price option entries. Re-creates the option on the item.
Import rates from a file
Members and admins can import rates from an Excel, CSV, or PDF file. Stralos reads the file using AI and adds nothing to your rates until you confirm the import. Spreadsheets include a region-selection step. PDFs follow a whole-document flow and skip the selection grid.Accepted files
- Excel workbooks (
.xlsxor.xls), CSV files (.csv), and PDF price lists (.pdf). - Files up to 10 MB.
Run an import
- Open Rates & resources → Resource library and select the Resources tab.
- Click Import rates.
- Drop a file onto the upload area, or click Choose a file. On a project import, you can also click Choose from project documents to use a file the project already holds. The upload screen explains that Stralos reads the file using AI and adds nothing to your rates until you confirm. It names the steps for each file type: spreadsheets go through Upload, Pick the rates, and Review and import; PDFs go through Upload and Review and import only. Upload the file when you are ready.
- Wait while Stralos uploads and opens the document.
- Spreadsheets only — Pick the rates: click the top-left cell of the rate table, then click the bottom-right cell. If every row in the sheet is a rate, press Select the whole sheet to draw the box in one step instead. A sheet dropdown lets you switch between sheets. Click Read these rates when the rectangle covers the rates you want. While Stralos works out the columns, a mask covers the sheet but leaves your selection visible. Select Go back and change the box if you want to redraw it. This stops waiting on your screen; the reading already sent to the server still finishes. PDFs skip this selection step and continue through whole-document analysis.
- On Review and import, check what the document refers to. For a PDF, a panel above the rates lists any suppliers, locations, and categories the document names. It shows each heading the document found and lets you decide whether it maps to an existing catalogue record, should be created, or can be ignored. Settling a decision updates the rates rows below in place. If you reclassify what a heading is entirely, for example changing a supplier heading into a category, Stralos asks whether to re-read the rates against that correction, because the rows themselves would come back differently. The panel at the top also lists any catalogue records that still need adding before the import can complete. Use Add the N missing suppliers to create all missing suppliers in one step. Once the catalogue is ready, the rows below become actionable.
- Set the supplier and location once in the Supplier and location card above the table. Where the file names them, the card shows what it said (Supplier in document and Location in document) beside the supplier Stralos matched (Stralos supplier). Choose your company or a supplier, and a location, in Supplier and location for this file. Every row with no answer yet, and every row still on the file’s previous answer, takes it. A row you gave its own supplier and location keeps it, and so does a row whose own wording names a place you already settled, unless that place is your own and you then choose a supplier for the file. When you choose a supplier, Stralos checks the matches again on the rows that moved, using that supplier’s codes and the wording remembered from their earlier price lists. When you pick a supplier and location on one blank row instead, a notification offers Use for the other N rates without one. While any ticked row still has no supplier and location, an amber note above the table counts them.
- Review the rows under Rates in this file. Each row has these columns:
- Supplier product: the product as the document wrote it, with the supplier’s description and code, and the row’s supplier and location. What the file said appears as Document said for a PDF or Spreadsheet said for a spreadsheet.
- Price and unit: the cost and unit, which you can change. Density, quantity bands and a non-standard condition sit in the row’s details. They open by themselves on a row that has a value there or still needs one, such as a quarry row with no density. On other rows, select + Add details.
- Match to resource: the resource in your library that this product will price. Type to search your resources by name, supplier description or code, or choose Create new resource to add it to your library when you import. A less certain match shows Check this match: select Looks right to keep it, or Change to search again, starting from the supplier’s own wording. A match or new resource you chose yourself shows Picked by you, with Clear match to undo it.
- What will happen: for example Creates new resource, Adds supplier rate, Updates price (with the old and new price), No price change, or Duplicate to review.
- Category: the category for a new resource. A row matched to an existing resource keeps that resource’s category.
- If a row’s category does not resolve, choose a catalogue category in that row. Admins can also create a category from the picker without leaving the review. If Stralos filled in a category for you, the row says Suggested category — please check under the picker.
- Check the source sheet and row shown beneath each rate name. Deselect any row you do not want to import.
- At the bottom of the page, beside the count of selected rates and any rows still to fix, click Import N selected rates. Choose another file and Cancel sit beside it.
Import as one rate
A supplier quote for one job is often broken into lines, for example a traffic management quote with a dozen items. You can import those lines as one rate for the whole job. On a project import, choose As one rate (one price for the job) under How should we import this?. The default is Each line as its own rate. On a Resource library import, select Is this one price for a whole job? Import it as one rate. The Your one rate card then appears above the lines. Give the rate a name, category, unit, and supplier and location. The price starts as the total of the ticked lines, shown as Total of N ticked lines. Type a different price if you need to, and select Use the total to go back to the total. Each line has a Qty (optional) field: with a quantity, the line adds its line total, for example 3 days at $1,450 adds $4,350. Without one, it adds its rate once. The lines themselves aren’t imported, and the rate sheet stays linked to the new rate. When you started the import to update an existing project rate, the card says which rate it will update.How Stralos suggests existing items
When a row’s name does not exactly match a library item, Stralos tries further sources before showing New resource:- Supplier wording memory: if a reviewer previously confirmed a row from this supplier and the confirmed rate option has a stored supplier item name, Stralos suggests the same library item for any future row with the same wording from the same supplier. This source is high confidence and does not show Check this match. It applies once the file’s supplier is known, from the document or from the Supplier and location card.
- A rate already in this project: on a project import, Stralos also looks for a rate in the project with a similar name and a unit its category allows. This match always shows Check this match. See Import project rates from a file.
- AI suggestion: Stralos builds a shortlist of library items whose names are similar to the row’s wording, then uses AI to pick the best match or return no suggestion. Every AI suggestion shows Check this match; review it carefully before accepting. If the AI is unavailable, those rows receive no suggestion rather than an incorrect one.
Add missing catalogue records
Stralos shows a summary above the review table of any suppliers, locations, or categories the document refers to that are not yet in your catalogue. A selected row cannot be imported until the records it references exist. Add the missing records or deselect the affected row. Only an admin can add a new category or one of your company’s own locations. If a member’s import needs one, Stralos names it, for example “Please ask your admin to add the category ‘Aggregates’, then run the import again for these rows.” Suppliers and supplier locations can be added by anyone, and the rest of the import still lands. The summary heading reflects the actual state. When rows are missing a supplier and location assignment, it reads N rows need a supplier and location before you can import. When rows have other issues, it reads N rows to fix before you can import. The heading changes to Every supplier, location and category in this file is already in your rates only when all selected rows are ready.- Add the N missing suppliers — creates all missing suppliers at once. Stralos reports any that could not be created.
- Categories can be added using the row pickers in the review table or the inline creators.
- For company pricing, locations your company has already recorded — yards, depots, offices — appear directly in the Add a supplier or location… picker. Select one to use that location; no new location record is created. Use Add location only for a genuinely new site.
- Supplier locations must be added one at a time using the inline creator. When you create a new supplier, you can also add its first yard in Yard or branch (optional). Leave it blank to price the supplier’s rates at all of its yards for now.
Add your own company’s locations during import
Source pickers on the review screen place your company before supplier companies. The company group uses its current display name — for example, Acme Construction — and does not require a separate source record. Open Add a supplier or location…. The group for your company can contain:- Locations already recorded in Rates & resources → Locations. Selecting one uses that existing location; it does not create a duplicate.
- Acme Construction — All locations. Use this for company-wide pricing with no specific place.
- Add Acme Construction location. Use this to create a new company-owned yard or depot. Only admins can add your company’s own locations.
Resolve a category during review
Each row has its own searchable Category picker. Stralos displays a unique catalogue match when it can resolve one. An unresolved category is flagged on its row and blocks that selected row from import until you choose or create a category. Deselect the row if it should not be imported. Starting another import clears these review decisions. Rows set to update an existing rate item have the Category picker locked. The import keeps the existing item’s stored category. To change the category, switch the row to Create new resource. This unlocks the picker and creates a new catalogue record instead of updating the matched one. The category choice on an unbound row is copied to other rows that share the same document heading — both unbound rows and bound rows whose heading Stralos could not resolve from the catalogue. Rows already bound to an existing item are left alone. A recategorisation is refused and blocks the whole commit if it would leave the item with prices or physical fields that are incompatible with the new category. A price slot replaced by the same import is assessed using its incoming values, and multiplier prices that depend on a replaced Standard price move with that replacement. The import names the row, the category, and what blocks it. Common causes among values that would remain are:- A live price using a unit the new category does not allow.
- A live price with no conversion factor when the new category is Bulk Materials, or one carrying a conversion factor when the new category is Disposal.
- A bulking or compaction percentage, or a cartage capacity, that the new category does not license.
Edit rates during review
Editable rate fields can be corrected before import without changing and uploading the source file again. The unit control uses the catalogue picker and does not accept values outside the catalogue. A Condition field appears in the row’s details only when the document supplied a non-standard value. Clear it to price the row as standard. Row-level problems, such as a blank name, negative cost, invalid condition, missing source or density, or a pack row with no items per pack, appear inline. The Additional information field in a row’s details carries the density and, when a banded schedule is recognised, the pricing bands. They are written asband_1=0,20,57.52,"<20m²" and density=1.7. Click the ? beside the Price and unit heading to open a guide that explains each format with worked examples. Both PDF and spreadsheet imports can detect and assemble quantity-banded pricing. For quarry materials, the row flags a missing density and shows density=1.7 as an example. A density must be greater than 0, no more than 1,000,000, and have at most 4 decimal places. Quarry price lists that quote each product with both a per-m³ price and a per-tonne price appear as one row priced per tonne. The two columns are the same price related by the density, so Stralos imports one rate and carries the density as the conversion factor. For non-quarry rows, empty details mean the row needs no density or band schedule; other fields can still block the row. Conditions accept letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, and underscores and may be up to 40 characters; clear the field to use standard. Duplicate rows are also flagged inline when two selected rows would price the same resolved item at the same source, location, and condition. Each issue links to the affected row and names the other row’s sheet position. Resolve a duplicate by deselecting one row, changing its condition or location, or binding it to a different item. The Import button explains what remains unresolved when selected rows have errors or still need a category choice.
Warnings and errors
Which warnings reach the review screen depends on the import path. PDF whole-document imports can report ambiguity or skipped content and, when quantity-banded pricing is found, show the same banding notices as the spreadsheet path: how many rates were grouped, the charging basis, and what happens above the top band. If a band heading cannot be read as a range, a warning names it and the row imports as a flat rate at its own price. Spreadsheet region imports show banding notices but do not carry their analysis warnings forward. Check the source document against the review table, especially around omitted content and quantity breaks, and correct the pricing rule after import when necessary. Row-level problems appear as individual buttons beneath the affected row. Click a button to scroll directly to the field that needs attention and place the cursor in it. The list shows every problem — none are hidden behind a count — so you can work through them in order. If the catalogue records panel cannot load your suppliers and locations, categories, or units, it shows a banner naming which read failed and the reason from the server. Each failed read is named separately so you can tell whether to check your suppliers list, your categories, or your units. Select Retry loading your rates to re-run only the reads that failed; reads that succeeded are not repeated. While a read that affects matching has failed, the headline above the rows changes to These rows cannot be matched against what you already have, and a note explains that nothing below can be shown as already existing. Do not create records until you have retried — a record added twice must be merged by hand. A failed unit read is reported in its own banner but does not change the headline. Units feed the category editor only; the supplier, location, and category counts are still accurate when only units failed to load. If the item categories fail to load, the row category pickers have no options and the import is blocked until the catalogue is available. Use the Retry button to reload the categories. Choose another file if it is empty, unsupported, larger than 10 MB, or contains no populated content. If no usable unit rates are detected, check that the file includes names, units, and prices.Day rate schedules
Admins manage contractual day rate schedules and their revisions from the Day/Card rates tab under Rates & resources → Resource library. Members can view schedules but cannot edit, issue, or cut revisions. A day rate schedule represents a contractual identity — a named set of day rates associated with a specific client or project. Each schedule holds a sequence of revisions. Only one revision can be current at a time. Estimators pick lines from issued schedules straight into a build-up, with no markup. Each project uses its own set of schedules, fixed at one revision each. See Day rates in a project. Use + New schedule to author an internal schedule from an empty draft or the published lines of an existing schedule. Use Import Schedule of Rates when the client owns the supplied lines. Both routes create a draft for review; neither issues rates automatically.Import a Schedule of Rates spreadsheet
Admins can create a client-defined day rate schedule by importing a Schedule of Rates spreadsheet. The import creates a single draft revision. Nothing is published or mapped automatically. Accepted files- Excel workbooks (
.xlsxor.xls) and CSV files (.csv). - Files up to 5 MB.
- Up to 20 sheets, 2,000 rows per sheet, and 40 columns per row.
- Open Rates & resources → Resource library, then select the Day/Card rates tab.
- Click Import Schedule of Rates. This button is visible only to admins and is hidden when the archived view is active.
- Drop a spreadsheet onto the upload area, or click Choose Schedule of Rates spreadsheet and select a file. CSV, XLS, and XLSX are accepted.
- Wait while Stralos reads and analyses the contractual lines. Formula cells are never evaluated; rows that contain a formula are excluded from the review automatically.
- Review the detected lines. Each line shows its source sheet and row number, an optional code, description, unit, rate kind (flat, fixed, or cost plus), and day rate.
- Edit any line directly in the review table. You can correct the description, unit, code, rate kind, and day rate.
- Deselect lines you do not want to import by clearing the Include checkbox on that row.
- Complete the Draft identity fields:
- Schedule name — required; pre-filled from the file name.
- Client — optional; links the schedule to an existing client record.
- Contract reference — optional free text.
- Effective from — required date; pre-filled with today’s date in your local timezone when the file is first analysed.
- Terms — optional contract terms text.
- Click Import as draft.
Validation
Each included line is validated before submission. The following rules apply:
- Description is required and must be 200 characters or fewer.
- Unit is required and must be 40 characters or fewer.
- Code, if provided, must be 80 characters or fewer. Codes must be unique across included lines.
- Flat and fixed lines require a non-negative day rate with at most two decimal places.
- Cost-plus lines do not carry a day rate.
View schedules
- Open Rates & resources → Resource library, then select the Day/Card rates tab.
- The register lists each schedule with its name, client, what it inherits from, the revision in force, any draft, and its status.
- Select a row, or choose Open from its menu, to open the schedule on its own page.
Edit and issue a draft revision
A draft revision isn’t in effect yet. Only admins can edit and issue it.- Open the schedule and switch the Revision selector to the draft, or choose Edit from the register row’s menu.
- Select Edit. Change the dates, terms, and lines, then select Save changes. The Effective from date must be later than the revision in force.
- Select Issue.
Cut a new revision
- Open the schedule on its current revision.
- Select New revision.
Review required
When a revision’s base schedule has been updated since the revision was last acknowledged, the register shows an amber Review required badge. This means the inherited base has changed and the revision may need updating. Open the schedule and select Review base changes. You can preview and apply a rebase into a new draft, or acknowledge the newer base without changing the contractual lines. A rebase keeps local overrides visible for review. The review groups line changes into additions, updates, retained overrides, removals, suppressed base lines, local lines, and unchanged lines. Base pricing rules, such as a Fixed line’s charge or a Cost plus percentage, are grouped separately. Each line shows its old base value, new base value, current value, and proposed result. For lines removed from the base, select Remove to remove them from the draft. Lines you don’t select become independent local lines. Then choose one of these actions:- Acknowledge — keep Rev n acknowledges the new base while leaving the contractual revision unchanged. You can use it for a historical revision when the base revision is available.
- Create draft revision applies the reviewed changes to a new draft. Only the revision in force can create this draft, and the schedule must not already have one.
Duplicate, archive, and restore
These actions are in the More actions menu on the schedule’s page. Use Duplicate for client to copy or inherit from an issued schedule when preparing a client-specific version. Archive removes an active schedule from normal lists without deleting its revisions, lines, or existing references. Clicking Archive opens a confirmation that names the schedule and notes that it can be restored. Select Archive schedule to proceed, or Cancel to keep it active. To make one active again, select Show archived schedules in the register, open the schedule, and select Restore. Restore is blocked when another active schedule uses the same name; open the blocking schedule to rename or archive it first. Projects that already use an archived schedule keep it in their day-rate set, marked Archived, but the build-up picker stops offering its lines. When duplicating, enter a schedule name, optionally select a client, choose the issued source revision, and select a derivation:- Copy creates an independent schedule with no ongoing link to the source.
- Inherit pins the new schedule to the source revision and flags it for review when the base changes.
-100% and no more than 1000%, with up to three decimal places. The adjustment changes Flat and Fixed rates only; Cost plus percentages keep their source values. The new schedule opens with a draft ready for review and issuing.
Non-admin access
Members who open the Day/Card rates tab see all schedules read-only. The register header shows Read only · admins manage revisions. A member can open, export, and print any schedule, but Edit, Issue, New revision, and the More actions menu aren’t shown. If a schedule can’t be found (for example because it belongs to a different company), the page shows This schedule is unavailable. Please refresh the list or ask an admin for access. rather than exposing internal identifiers.Good practice
- Keep item names and supplier option codes consistent so estimators can search reliably.
- Use each rate option’s owner and location to distinguish supplier pricing from your company’s own pricing.
- Keep category classification and vehicle capacities accurate — they determine the item’s rate group, physical fields, and where it is offered elsewhere in Stralos.
- Reassign rates before deleting a category to avoid losing category context on existing items.
- Review every suggested item match during import. Selecting an existing item is an explicit binding; choosing Create new resource overrides the suggestion but requires its own name when a different item already uses that name. Without an explicit choice, matching uses the supplier, supplier item code, and item name together, then falls back to the name. Rows marked Check this match carry an AI suggestion with lower confidence and need careful review before accepting.
- Issue day rate revisions promptly after agreeing terms. A schedule with no revision in force can’t join a project’s day-rate set, so estimators can’t pick from it.
- Review revisions flagged as Review required when a base schedule is updated, so derived schedules stay aligned with their source.