Rate Card
A rate card sets the approved pay or bill rates for each role a client buys from staffing agencies. How client and agency rate cards work, with an example.September 24, 2026
2 min read
VMS & MSP
Written by the NextCrew team
Definition
A rate card is the table of approved pay rates, bill rates or maximum bill rates for each role a client buys through staffing agencies, often broken down by location, shift and experience. In VMS programs the client or its MSP usually sets it, and agencies cannot bill above it.
In practice
There are two kinds. A client's rate card, common in VMS and MSP programs, caps what suppliers may bill for each role, sometimes as a range or a maximum markup. An agency's own rate card is the price list it offers direct clients, built from pay rates, burden and markup for each position.
Both need regular review. A minimum wage increase, a new workers' comp rate or a change to the program fee can leave a two-year-old rate card below what a role now costs to staff.
Example
| Role | Location | Max bill rate (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| Warehouse associate | Chicago, IL | $28.50 |
| Warehouse associate, overnight | Chicago, IL | $30.00 |
| Forklift operator | Chicago, IL | $31.00 |
Before accepting a card like this, work backward from each maximum: subtract the program fee and the burden, and check that the pay rate left over is competitive in that market. If it is not, the role will not fill, however good the rest of the card looks.
In NextCrew, a rate configuration is your rate card for a client: pay rate, markup and bill rate per position, applied automatically to that client's future job orders.
Related terms
- Bill rate: what the client pays per hour, capped by the rate card.
- Program fee: the VMS or MSP fee that comes off the capped rate.
- Markup: the percentage added to pay to reach the bill rate.
- VMS: the system where most client rate cards live.
Go deeper
For how rate cards, fees and tiers fit together in client programs, read What Is a VMS and MSP in Staffing? A Guide for Agencies.