How to set background rates and fringes
Background rates and fringes are set per production in Production Settings. They power every cost estimate in the Background Manager.
Open the rates
- In the Background Manager, click View rates & fringes, or
- Open Production Settings, find Background rates & fringes, and click Manage.
You need permission to edit production settings, and your production needs a Studio or Enterprise plan.
Choose a preset or create custom rates
Pick a Preset to fill in standard rates:
- US - SAG-AFTRA
- US - Non-Union (LA)
- US - Non-Union (NYC/NJ)
- Canada - ACTRA IPA
- Canada - UBCP (BC)
- UK - PACT/FAA (London)
- UK - PACT/Equity (Outside London)
Working under a different agreement or a negotiated deal? Choose Custom and enter your own rates, or start from a preset and change any value. When your values differ from the preset, Cinapse shows a note and uses your customized rates for every estimate.
What you can set
- General: Rate type (Union & Non-union, Union only, or Non-union only), Currency (USD, CAD, or GBP; you can change it on Custom, while presets set it for you), and Rate unit (Daily or Hourly).
- Rates: a rate for each background category, with separate union and non-union rates. Turn on Minor rates to add a separate rate for minors in each category.
- Guarantees: Standard work day, Minimum guaranteed hours, and Overtime tiers (for example, 1.5x after 8 hours). U.K. presets use a flat overtime amount per 30 minutes.
- Fringes: a fringe percentage applied to background costs. New productions start at 45%.
Click Save when you're done. Saving recalculates the estimates for every existing group. Reset to defaults puts the preset values back.
Rates and fringes are estimates for planning only. Always check your actual obligations with the relevant unions and agreements.
Need more help? Email us at support@cinapse.io, or ask the help assistant using the chat button in this Help Center.