Handoff sets a labor rate from your price location unless you give it one of your own. To use your own rate, add a catalog item with the Labor category, or type the rate in the AI chat for one estimate. Your own rates always take priority over Handoff's location-based rates.
Available on all plans. You need permission to edit AI settings to change catalogs and presets. Works on desktop and in the mobile app.
There is no separate labor rate setting in Presets.
Where Handoff's labor rates come from
Without a rate from you, Handoff estimates labor from your price location. It finds the county, then applies that county's labor index to a base rate for the trade.
If it cannot use a county, it uses a fallback index. If there is no location at all, it uses a default of $75 per hour.
Because of this, set your price location before you generate an estimate. See How Handoff prices an estimate for how Handoff chooses the location. Locations must be in the United States.
Use your own labor rate in a catalog
A catalog rate with the Labor category sets the price whenever Handoff matches it to a line.
Go to Settings > AI Settings > Catalogs.
Open a catalog, or select New catalog (New in the mobile app) to create one.
Select New rate (New in the mobile app), or use Import rates to load a price list.
Enter a Rate title, a Cost and a time Unit, such as hour.
Set Category to Labor, or Labor + Material if the rate includes both.
Select Save.
New estimates then price matching labor lines from this rate. The Applied catalogs drawer on an estimate shows which catalogs are on, and you can turn one off for that estimate.
The Flex plan allows 1 catalog. Pro and Scale allow unlimited catalogs.
Control how labor lines are written in Presets
A saved instruction in Presets controls how labor lines are labeled and which unit or quantity form they use. It does not replace a catalog rate for the price.
To add one, open Presets, go to the Estimates tab and select New. Enter your Instructions and select Analyze instruction.
A new instruction starts disabled. It becomes active after it passes the analysis, or when you choose Enable anyway. For a rate you want used every time, add it to a catalog.
Set a labor rate for one estimate
Type the rate in the AI chat on the estimate, such as "use $100/hr for labor". Your message outranks catalogs, presets and location-based rates for that estimate.