A rate table is a set of approved amounts to be used when compensating various combinations of different assets. When applicable, those rates are often the result of market studies or community negotiations and normally cover for a specific location and period of time.
The Rate Tables Register is a place to organise the various sets of rates that may apply for the entire project. For instance, it will capture the amount to be paid for a specific quantity of an asset of a certain type (e.g. amount for 1 acre of a mature cocoa plantation for 2014 in a certain area of the country).
Rates will be used by the system in order to automate amount calculations based on what assets were identified on a specific property. It minimises the risk of miscalculations. However pre-defined rates are not always available and sometimes a negotiated amount has to be entered manually for a specific asset. This is documented in another section
How to Work with the Rate Register?
From the application menu, navigate to modules > land_access > governance > rate tables.
- Drafting
As well as entering the essential details about the rate table in the general information tab, you will need to use the rates tab to capture the various combinations of potential assets to compensate for when getting access to a land. It is also recommended to attach a soft copy of the original rates against the record for auditing purposes.
You can accelerate data entry by duplicating rates from another set of rate table and by modifying only those that have to be updated with a different amount.
Once the rates have been captured in the rates tab, you can use the workflow action to activate them so they become available for selection against a land request. The system will simply make sure that at least one rate was captured before activating them. Once active it’s still possible to add new combinations of assets and rates, but it’s not permitted to modify existing ones. The rationale is that the system needs to protect data integrity in the rest of the compensation process flow. It’s also possible to view which land requests are using those rates by looking at the land requests tab.
- Deactivating rates
After a period of time it’s likely that rates get superseded by a new set. When applicable, it’s possible to deactivate older rates to prevent users from choosing them again for another land request. The condition to respect before being allowed to do is that all associated land requests must be completed.
What is the Rate Register Workflow?
Status flow
After you add a new rate table record, its status is automatically set to draft. The following figure shows how one status flows into the next.
The status field for a rate table record can have any of the following values:
- Draft
- Indicates that the rate table is being defined or revised
- You may make changes to the record
- You are not able to create a link between a draft set of rates and a land request
- Active
- Indicates that the rate table has been officialised
- You may not make changes to the record apart from the fact that you can add new rates if needed
- You may send the record back to draft by using the corresponding workflow action. However this is only possible when the record is not referred to by a land request or compensation file.
- You are able to create a link between an active set of rates and a land request
- You may set the record inactive by using the corresponding workflow action. However in order to be able to do this you must be aware that a rate table cannot be deactivated when it is linked to a "Draft" or "Active" land request.
- Inactive
- Indicates that the rate table is no longer in application
- You are not allowed to make changes to the record
- You may reactivate the rate table at any time.
Workflow Menu Options
Depending on the status, the workflow menu for a rate table record has the following options:
- Duplicate rates table
- Copies all values from another set of rates. Overwrites values
- This option only appears when the status is draft
- Activate
- Sets the status to Active
- This option only appears when the status is draft
- Send back to draft
- Sets the status to Draft
- This option only appears when the status is active
- Deactivate
- Sets the status to Inactive
- This option only appears when the status is active
- Reactivate
- Sets the status to Active
- This option only appears when the status is inactive