– Time and Materials ‖ contracts . T & M contracts often specify a maximum number of hours for which the client is willing to pay . CMS managers must ensure that when these maximum ( cap ) amounts are exceeded , the clients are not billed for such additional hours . For T & M contracts , the rate per hour for each consultant is determined by the employee ‘ s level of expertise . For example , a client might pay $ 100 / hour for an employee who is at the level of Systems Analyst I . That same client would pay $ 250 / hour for an employee designated as a Manager Level II . Although T & M and Fixed Price contracts are the only two types of contracts currently used by CMS , it is likely that other types of contracts will be used in the near future . All CMS employees must keep a record of the time they spend working for each client . Because employees can work for more than one client and perform different functions for each client , CMS utilizes ― project management ‖ to keep track of employee assignments to client contracts . Employees can be assigned to many different projects throughout their tenure . They also can be assigned to more than one project at a given time . In fact , it is not unusual for an employee to spend time on two or more different projects within the same day . Likewise , projects can consist of many different employees . Project assignments change over time . For example , Employee ― A ‖ may work on Project ― X ‖ during January , and , in February , that same employee may be reassigned to Project ― Y .‖ It is important to maintain records of the dates for which each employee is assigned to each project . Additionally , each project has a manager who oversees its progress and ensures that contracts are fulfilled and profitable ( e . g ., U . S . project managers try to prevent hours worked in excess of the maximum allowed by a fixed price contract ). Just as a client can have more than one contract with CMS , a contract can consist of more than one project . For example , a contract for the development of a new system could be fulfilled in multiple phases .