Film Accounting Glossary
Rate card
What is a rate card?
Also called price list, or rental rate card.
A rate card is a vendor's published pricing for its services or inventory: daily, weekly, and monthly rental rates, delivery and standby charges, and any overtime or damage terms.
Productions budget against rate cards and then negotiate off them, so the card is a starting point rather than a price. Picture-car and equipment vendors set weekly rates well below seven times the day rate, which is why schedule shape changes cost more than day count alone.
Example
A vendor's card reads $450 a day, $1,350 a week for the same vehicle: the week is three days, not seven. So a 12-day spread across three calendar weeks bills as three weeks, and shortening the spread saves more than cutting a day.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
The starting point for budgeting a rental line, then negotiated off. Worth reading for the weekly break, standby, and damage terms.
Common mistake
Multiplying the day rate by the number of days. Weekly rates are usually around three times the daily, so the spread of days matters more than the count.
Related questions
- How do vehicle and equipment rental rates work?
- A day rate, a weekly rate at a substantial discount to seven days, and often a monthly rate, plus charges for delivery, standby, and damage.
- Why does the shooting spread affect rental cost?
- Because rentals bill by duration held, not days used. Six shoot days spread over three weeks bills three weeks, plus pickup, return, and weekend holds.