WHAT'S NEW

What's new in Rate Studio.

A running log of new features and improvements, most recent first. Rate Studio ships planned, batched updates rather than a constant drip of tiny releases — when something changes, it lands here. To see what we are working on next, visit What's Coming.

VERSION 3.22.0 · OCTOBER 21, 2026

Simpler cost entry and a focused pricing screen.

  • The Charitable checkbox is gone. Enter a charitable contribution as a G&A expense and tick Unallowable, which already keeps it out of every pool and base. Saved files that carried a Charitable flag open as Unallowable, so nothing is lost.
  • Pricing & Comparison is now contract pricing only. The rates and cost multipliers stay on Calculate & Reconcile, where they were already shown. The Pricing Excel report keeps its Wrap Rates & Multipliers sheet and adds an OH Rate column.
  • Calculate & Reconcile no longer repeats the trial balance control totals. It shows a short warning, with a link back to Enter Cost Data, only when the trial balance does not tie to your cost data.
  • A new My Account link in the sidebar opens your account page for subscription and billing.
  • The Budget Module demo now carries account numbers, so Cost Rollup shows the prior-year and current-year amounts by account.
  • The User Guide screenshots were refreshed to match the current screens.
VERSION 3.21.0 · OCTOBER 20, 2026

Clearer wording, and one place for help.

  • The overhead cost element routing table now says "MSOH base" for the elements that form the MSOH base. The routing and the math are unchanged.
  • The Instructions screen now describes how your work is saved in line with the membership check: Rate Studio keeps no copy of your work, and your data never leaves your computer.
  • The sidebar's top link is now Rate Studio Support, where you will also find What's New and What's Coming.
  • Terms of Sale, covering the free trial, renewal, cancellation and refunds, are linked from the sidebar and the License Agreement.
VERSION 3.20.0 · OCTOBER 19, 2026

A live membership check, and clearer wording about your data.

  • Rate Studio now confirms your membership with a hosted licensing service when it loads and every 30 minutes. It sends an anonymous member ID and receives your plan. It never receives your cost data, configuration or results, which stay in files on your own computer or network.
  • If the connection drops, you keep working. The tool shows a notice and pauses only after one continuous hour without a successful check.
  • A cancelled or expired membership now stops within about 30 minutes instead of at the next page load.
  • The Security Overview, License Agreement and help pages describe the licensing check in plain terms.
VERSION 3.19.0 · OCTOBER 19, 2026

Overtime in the Budget Module, and faster account review.

  • Budget: Labor now handles overtime. Hours above the standard 2,080 are overtime pay, not a lower hourly rate.
  • Mark each employee Exempt or Non-exempt. Non-exempt employees earn the overtime multiplier (time and a half by default); exempt employees earn straight time on those hours only when Straight-time OT is checked.
  • Overtime raises payroll taxes, workers' comp and the retirement match, and is spread across the employee's time allocation. A setup option excludes the overtime premium from the workers' comp base.
  • The employee import template has FLSA Status and Straight-Time OT columns.
  • Reviewing a large trial balance is faster: Review Account Mappings now shows 50 accounts per page.
VERSION 3.18.0 · OCTOBER 16, 2026

Easier to use from the keyboard, clearer about what is left to do.

  • A locked step in the sidebar now tells you which step to finish first.
  • The File menu works with the keyboard: open it with Enter, move with the arrow keys, close it with Escape.
  • Cost Rollup and Revenue show what still needs attention, and Cost Rollup can show only those rows.
  • Fields on Pricing, Hiring, What-If and the structure overrides keep your place when you tab through them.
  • Add buttons now name what they add, checkboxes are larger, and the cost-routing legend uses the Corvata colors.
VERSION 3.17.0 · OCTOBER 16, 2026

One way to handle pools everywhere: business lines.

  • Cost lines, trial-balance mappings, labor, Cost Rollup and revenue now all use the same business lines. Each structure says which of its own overhead pools a business line lands in, so one set of numbers works for a structure with one overhead pool and a structure with several. Existing files calculate exactly as before.
  • Cost Rollup rows are tied to a business line instead of a position in a list, so adding a pool can no longer re-point existing rows. Older files convert automatically.
  • Each overhead tab shows where its business line lands in every structure, and the Cost Rollup overview shows the rates for every structure side by side.
  • Revenue is entered by business line.
  • A structure without an MSOH pool now decides what happens to costs recorded as MSOH: G&A by default, or overhead in a pool you choose. The setting is on the MSOH card of each structure.
  • The business lines and pools table has its own tab on Configure Structures, where the pools are defined, and each structure shows a one-line summary of where its business lines land.
VERSION 3.16.0 · OCTOBER 16, 2026

Every field has a name, and messages stay in the page.

  • Every form field now carries a name that screen readers announce, such as "Pay rate ($/hr), Engineer", and row buttons say which row they act on ("Remove Engineer").
  • Warnings and validation messages appear in a dialog inside the page instead of a browser pop-up box. They do not block the page, and focus returns to where you were.
  • Security: a pool, structure or category name containing HTML markup is now always shown as plain text, and imported files drop keys that could interfere with the tool's internals.
VERSION 3.15.0 · OCTOBER 16, 2026

Easier to use from the keyboard, easier to read, and safer to edit.

  • Keyboard access: move through the sidebar steps and tabs with Tab, Enter, Space and the arrow keys. Every button, tab and step shows a clear focus ring.
  • Undo: removing an employee, plan, line or row now happens at once with an Undo bar (or Ctrl+Z) for eight seconds, instead of a confirmation on every row.
  • Dollar fields everywhere now read $1,234.56 and accept 1234.5, 1,234.50 or $1,234.50.
  • Easier to read: small teal text and teal buttons are slightly darker for contrast, and text is never smaller than 12 pixels.
  • Screen readers: labelled regions and headings, announced status messages, and a proper dialog for period actions. Navigation buttons now consistently say "Continue to" the next screen.
VERSION 3.14.0 · OCTOBER 16, 2026

Time allocation that works in every structure, and a check that every employee was reviewed.

  • Employee time is allocated by business line (Services, Manufacturing, and so on) instead of by one structure's pool. Each structure says which of its overhead pools a business line lands in, so the same allocation works across a multi-model comparison, including a structure with a single overhead pool. Files saved earlier are converted automatically.
  • Every employee option (benefit class, each paid-absence type, SUTA, workers' comp, health, dental, retirement, other benefit) now needs an explicit choice: Company default, No election, or a specific plan. Options not yet chosen are highlighted, counted on the employee list, and can be set to Company default in one step. The numbers do not change; the flag shows who has been reviewed.
  • In the demo, Edit opens an employee so you can see the detail without changing it.
VERSION 3.13.0 · OCTOBER 16, 2026

Employee export, dollar fields, and large rosters that stay fast.

  • Export current employees to Excel: the same smart workbook as the template (drop-downs, limits, a Check column), already filled in with the employees in the open period. Edit in Excel and import it back.
  • Salary and Hourly Rate now read as dollars ($128,000.00), show plain digits while you edit, and accept 128000, 128,000 or $128,000.50.
  • Large rosters and charts stay responsive. With more than three employees the Employees tab shows one summary line each, with a Setup column that says what is missing, and opens one employee at a time. Chart of Accounts and Prior-year links show 50 accounts per page with page numbers.
  • Data-entry fields are shorter and tighter, Edit buttons are teal and Remove buttons are red so the two are easy to tell apart.
VERSION 3.12.1 · OCTOBER 14, 2026

A Chart of Accounts, Cost Rollup by pool, and a budget you can load into your accounting software.

  • New: Chart of Accounts. Each period keeps its own chart, with each account's type, calculation category and a recommended subcategory. Import a chart from CSV or Excel, add accounts, and organize costs by what they are. Subcategories organize the budget and never change a rate.
  • Importing a new chart when accounts already exist now asks what to do: replace the chart (older accounts move to a Prior accounts list so you can link them), update and add, or add new accounts only.
  • Prior-year links: when the chart changes between the baseline year and the budget, link each older account to its new one. Rate Studio proposes links from a crosswalk file or from matching names, adds the old dollars to the new account in the baseline column, and moves any budget lines with the link.
  • Departments inside pools: budget by department within a pool, such as Accounting, Business Development and HR inside G&A. You name the column the way your accounting software does (Class, Department, Dimension). Departments never change a rate, and fringe is never split by department.
  • Budget: Cost Rollup is now one tab per pool, with labor and applied fringe from the Labor tab, expenses added by choosing an account from the chart, a required note on every line, and a reconciliation to the calculation engine on each pool. Intermediate pool allocation drivers show in their own units, such as square feet and dollars per square foot.
  • New: GL accounts and budget export. Map each budget item to a chart account, then export the budget as Excel or as a flat CSV (one row per account across January to December, or one row per account per month). The export ties to the budget computed from your sources, and is also available from the File menu.
  • Budget: Labor adds benefit classes, first and last name columns, percentages typed as percentages, and a smart Excel employee template with drop-downs, number limits and a check column. Baseline now comes before Revenue and clearly shows what is loaded; the old Cost Rollup import was removed.
  • Version 3.12.1 fixes a column heading on the GL accounts tab.
VERSION 3.11.0 · OCTOBER 4, 2026

Periods: budget, actuals and year over year in one file.

  • New: periods. One saved file can now hold a budget, monthly or quarterly actuals, and prior years, each with its own cost data, structures, What-If and account mappings. Switch between them from the Period box in the sidebar.
  • Start a new period from an existing one: copy the structures, mappings and cost treatments with no dollars (the usual choice for a new year or month) and import the new trial balance, or copy everything to model a budget from a locked one.
  • Lock a period when it closes. A Final period is read-only, can only be locked when its rates reconcile and use all of its cost data, and unlocks only with a typed reason that is kept in a lock history.
  • Compare any two periods stage by stage, with the change in percentage points and the pool and base dollars behind it, and export the comparison to Excel. A budget and its actuals for the same year should use the same structure, so Rate Studio warns you if they differ.
  • Reports, exports and file names show the period and whether it is Draft or Final. The company name is protected from accidental edits once Mode & Purpose is complete.
  • Mode & Purpose now opens with Open Existing Work, then Company Information, then the three modes. Files saved in earlier versions open as a single period with the same results as before.
VERSION 3.10.0 · OCTOBER 3, 2026

Safer trial balance imports, and rates you can trust to tie out.

  • Re-importing a trial balance now works the way you expect: new amounts replace the old ones automatically, your account mappings and names are kept, and any account number or name that changed is highlighted for you to confirm.
  • Import checks that catch problems before they reach your rates: a warning for duplicate account numbers, and a row-and-dollar comparison between your file and what was imported.
  • Every structure now shows a "cost data used" check. If a structure leaves any of your dollars out of its pools, Pricing, Hiring and the reports stay blocked until it is fixed, so no one relies on rates that are missing dollars.
  • The three modes are now named for what they do and what they lock: Calculate Single Set of Rates; Perform a What-If Analysis (the structure is locked and only dollar amounts change); and Model Multiple Rate Structures (the dollars are locked and only the structure changes). Every difference in a rate traces to one cause.
  • The cost treatment screen shows only the pools in the structure you are editing, and optional MSOH base elements such as Travel and ODC can now be routed in the pool mapping too.
  • File handling: Save As is always available, an imported file keeps its name when you save, company information edits are saved, and changing modes warns you before it removes structures.
  • Fixes: credits inside expense accounts keep their sign, so pools are no longer overstated; a renamed account keeps its correct amount and mapping; and Enter Cost Data no longer goes blank after importing a saved file.
VERSION 3.9.0 · OCTOBER 2, 2026

A Budget Module, and a guided mapping workflow.

  • New: the Budget Module. Choose Budget as your data type, then build a budget from scratch — Revenue, an optional prior-year/current-year Baseline, bottom-up Labor, Cost Rollup, and Pro Forma — and run it through the same calculation engine as actual data.
  • Budget: Labor models real payroll variation: an addable list of Paid Absence Types (PTO, Holiday, Sick, and more), allocation percentages based on worked hours, workers' comp by job class, SUTA by state, the FUTA wage-base cap, an optional cap on the retirement match, and bulk employee import from a CSV template.
  • Mapping is now more guided. Map Departments pre-fills each department from its name — Services and Manufacturing to their pools, Facilities to a Facilities pool, Accounting, BD and HR to G&A, MSOH to MSOH — and marks those rows "suggested" for your review.
  • After you accept and save your account mappings, Rate Studio now takes you straight to Intermediate pool allocation if a pool still needs data. Continue to Calculation checks for it too, instead of leaving you to find the gap on the results screen.
  • Hiring now always shows every structure side by side, with a Detail tab for each, matching the Pricing tab.
  • A cleaner, more consistent look: a screen header that stays put while you scroll, uniform structure labels so alternatives read as peers of your Baseline, and a consistent Purple/Teal heading hierarchy.
  • Fixes: a category such as "Intermediate Labor – Facilities" is now recognized as labor (it was being treated as an expense, so fringe was never applied to it); the Sort menu no longer overlaps the "Unreviewed only" checkbox; side-by-side fields on Configure Structures line up; and every screen and sub-step now opens at the top instead of wherever the previous one was scrolled.
VERSION 3.7.0 · SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

Smarter naming recognition, and a security hardening pass.

  • Trial balance auto-mapping recognizes more real-world naming conventions — Direct/COGS, Fringe, Facilities, IT, G&A, and MSOH variants, in both account names and the Category column.
  • Text from your files and the names you type is now safely handled everywhere it appears on screen, closing a class of injection risks.
  • A remembered client folder that has since been moved, renamed, or is on an unplugged drive no longer blanks the Client Folder card — it now recovers cleanly with a clear message.
VERSION 3.6.0 · SEPTEMBER 24, 2026

Hiring reports, and a smarter trial balance.

  • The Hiring tab now exports to Excel and Print/Save as PDF, matching Pricing and Calculate & Reconcile.
  • Trial balance auto-mapping got noticeably smarter — accounts named with common G&A, Overhead, Facilities, IT, and HR prefixes are now recognized automatically instead of needing manual review.
  • When both a Department and a Category column are present in your upload, Department mapping now runs first and helps Category's own suggestions land correctly the first time.
  • Several screen polish fixes: a duplicate button row on Configure Structures, a false "data needed" warning on single-pool structures, and imported sessions now correctly show every completed step.
VERSIONS 3.3–3.5 · SEPTEMBER 2026

A persistent File menu, and Department-based mapping.

  • Save, Save As, Import, and every report export now live in one consistent File menu at the bottom of every screen — no more hunting for the right button on the right screen.
  • New: map trial balance accounts by Department, not just Category — tell Rate Studio once which departments feed which pools, and every account in that department follows automatically.
  • Fixed a data-integrity issue where some trial balance accounts could be silently marked "reviewed" without ever being mapped.
VERSIONS 3.0–3.2 · AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2026

Subscription tiers, free trials, and a redesigned sidebar.

  • Rate Studio's subscription model went live — Solo/SMB, Small Firm, and Enterprise tiers, each with Single Calculation, What-If, and Multi-Model editions.
  • New: a 30-day free trial on every tier, with a clear "days remaining" indicator while it's active.
  • The sidebar was redesigned to match Corvata's brand — lighter, cleaner, and easier to read at a glance, including your current tier and edition.
VERSIONS 2.5–2.6 · AUGUST 2026

The demo, the User Guide, and the License Agreement.

  • An interactive demo mode, so a prospective subscriber can explore the real tool with sample data before signing up.
  • The full User Guide and License Agreement became available directly from the sidebar, on every screen.
  • A detailed print/PDF report was added alongside the existing summary report, showing every pool and base component account-by-account.
SINCE LAUNCH

The foundation: a complete rate-calculation workflow.

Earlier releases built out the core of the tool — the nine-screen wizard, the full DCAA-aligned calculation engine, and the reporting suite that everything above builds on:

  • Configure a full indirect rate structure — Fringe, Intermediate pools, Overhead, MSOH, and G&A — and compare up to five alternative structures side by side.
  • Upload a real trial balance (CSV or Excel) with rule-based account mapping, or enter costs manually.
  • What-If mode, for modeling the effect of a hypothetical new hire, raise, or reallocation on your existing rates.
  • A full Pricing tab (Cost-Type, Fixed-Price, and Time & Materials) and a Hiring tab, for testing what a given billing rate can actually afford to pay.
  • Excel and Print/PDF exports throughout, plus a connected-folder option for saving and reopening client files without repeated file-picker dialogs.
QUESTIONS?

Something not covered here?

If you're not sure whether a feature you're looking for already exists, or you'd like to suggest something for a future release, we'd like to hear from you.

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