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Overview

Staff & Resource Rules let you define staffing rules at the service level. When a customer fills out your lead intake form, Flashquotes automatically calculates how many staff and resources are needed — based on hourly capacity, guest count, duration, or a combination — and applies those quantities directly to your quote pricing. Each service gets its own rule. When a quote is created, Flashquotes calculates the price for each service individually using that service’s calculated staff and resource quantities.
If a selected service doesn’t have a staffing rule configured, Flashquotes falls back to the form-level staffing calculator settings.

Rule Modes

Each service’s rule uses one of four modes. Choose the one that matches how your staffing scales.

Hourly Capacity

The default mode. Uses a formula based on guest count, service duration, and a capacity ratio. How it works:
  • Set how many items (coffees, cocktails etc.) one staff member can serve per hour
  • Flashquotes divides total demand by that capacity to get the staff count
  • Optionally set a minimum and maximum staff count
  • Set a staff-per-resource ratio (e.g., 1 resource for every 2 staff)
Example: A coffee catering company sets capacity to 50 drinks/hour/staff and staff-per-resource ratio at 2 staff to 1 resource. For 200 guests over 3 hours: 200 guests / 3 hours / 50 per hour = 2 staff needed and 1 resource needed.
Hourly Capacity rule mode configuration

By Guest Count

Maps guest count ranges to fixed staff and resource quantities. How it works:
  • Define guest count ranges (e.g., 1–74, 75–149, 150–300)
  • For each range, specify how many staff and resources are needed
  • The customer’s guest count determines which range applies
Example: A photo booth company needs 1 attendant for up to 100 guests, 2 for 100–250, and 3 for 250+. Three ranges, done.
By Guest Count rule mode with range table

By Duration

Maps service duration ranges to staff and resource quantities. How it works:
  • Define duration ranges (e.g., 1–2 hours, 2.5–4 hours, 4.5–8 hours)
  • For each range, specify staff and resource counts
  • The customer’s selected service length determines which range applies
Example: A DJ service needs 1 DJ for events up to 4 hours, 2 DJs for anything longer. Two ranges cover it.
By Duration rule mode with range table

By Guest Count + Duration

A two-dimensional table that factors in both guest count and service duration at the same time. How it works:
  • Define guest count ranges along the rows
  • Define duration ranges along the columns
  • Each cell specifies staff and resource counts for that combination
  • Both the guest count and duration must match for a cell to apply
Example: A bartending company staffs differently based on crowd size and event length:
1–2 hours2.5–4 hours4.5+ hours
1–49 guests1 staff1 staff2 staff
49–150 guests2 staff2 staff3 staff
151+ guests3 staff4 staff5 staff
By Guest Count + Duration rule mode with matrix

Setting Up a Rule

1

Navigate to Your Service

Go to Services, then select the service you want to configure.
2

Open Staffing Rules

Click the Staffing Rules tab on the service page.
3

Choose a Mode

Select a mode from the dropdown: Hourly Capacity, By Guest Count, By Duration, or By Guest Count + Duration.
4

Define Your Rules

Fill in your ranges, capacities, or matrix values. Changes save automatically.
5

Test Your Configuration

Go to the Pricing section on the service to see how the rules interact with pricing settings to build your service price.

How Rules Apply to Quotes

When a quote is created from your lead intake form, Flashquotes resolves staffing like this:
  1. For each selected service with a staffing rule, the rule runs using the guest count and duration
  2. Each service’s price is calculated using its own staff and resource quantities
  3. The quote reflects the per-service pricing based on those calculated quantities
If a guest count or duration falls outside your defined ranges, the rule uses the highest range as a fallback. If your guest count table tops out at 300 and a customer enters 400, the 300+ range applies.

Copying Rules Between Services

If multiple services share similar staffing needs, you can copy a rule configuration from one service to another:
  1. Open the rules editor for the service you want to configure
  2. Click Copy from service
  3. Select the source service
  4. The full rule configuration (mode, ranges, and values) is copied over

Form-Level Fallback

The form-level staffing calculator uses its own hourly capacity formula to determine staff counts. When any selected service on a lead intake form has a staffing rule configured, those service-level rules take priority. The form-level calculator only runs when no selected services have rules defined.
Configure rules at the service level for more accurate, flexible staffing. Form-level settings are a fallback, not the primary tool.

Common Questions

What if only some of my services have rules? Services without a defined rule will fallback to using the form-level staffing calculator when calculating the service price. Can I use different modes for different services? Yes. Each service has its own independent rule. One service can use Hourly Capacity while another uses By Guest Count + Duration. How do I remove a staffing rule from a service? You can just use the Hourly Capacity configuration for this service, which matches the logic of the form-level rules.