Here is the picture I promised. This shows an English tying joint style of post/plate/tie connection. Here you can see the plate is bisected by the horizontal line, but that is not always necessarily the case, that's why I choose to define it as the bottom of the tie is marked by the line. I hope this clears thing's up a bit

This system works just fine whether you are joining truss rafters into the tie beams (with no overhang) or running rafters across the plate for an overhang. In case it is not immediately obvious, the end of the tie beam can be cut off at an angle to accommodate narrower rafters