Set up cost centers

Completed

Cost centers are most often departments and profit centers that are largely responsible for a company's costs and income. Cost centers can be synchronized with dimensions in the general ledger. It is also possible to add new cost centers and define their own sorting with subtotals.

Screenshot of the Chart of Cost Centers page.

To access the chart of cost centers, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Search for Page icon in the top-right corner of the page, enter Chart of Cost Centers, and then select the related link.

  2. Select any line, and in the ribbon, select Edit to open the Cost Center card.

You can set up the chart of cost centers in the following ways:

  • Transfer dimension values in the general ledger to the chart of cost centers. You can make any necessary adjustments after the transfer.

  • Manually create cost centers, independent of the general ledger.

If you want to transfer dimension values in the general ledger to the chart of cost centers, follow these steps:

  1. Set up a dimension to be the cost center dimension on the Cost Accounting Setup page. Select Actions > Functions > Update Cost Acctg. > Dimensions and fill in a dimension in the Cost Center Dimension field. Only the values from this dimension are transferred.

  2. Select the Search for Page icon in the top-right corner of the page, enter Chart of Cost Centers, and then select the related link.

  3. Select Get Cost Centers from Dimension to transfer dimension values to the chart of cost centers. The function transfers the dimension values that you defined in step 1.

The chart of cost centers now contains all specified dimension values from the general ledger and includes titles and subtotals.

If you need to manually create a new cost center, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Search for Page icon in the top-right corner of the page, enter Chart of Cost Centers, and then select the related link.

  2. Select New.

  3. On the cost center card are the following fields:

    • Code - The abbreviation of the cost center. Users can create this code from a combination of letters and numbers.

    • Name - Descriptive name of the cost center.

    • Cost Subtype - This field is only for information and isn't used by the program. The options in this field are:

      • Service Cost Center

      • Aux. Cost Center

      • Main Cost Center

    • Line Type - Specifies the purpose of the cost center and is used to structure the chart of cost centers by inserting totaling lines. The options in this field are:

      • Cost Center

      • Heading

      • Total

      • Begin-Total

      • End-Total

    • Totaling - Range of the subtotals.

    • Responsible Person - Users can specify the person who is responsible for the cost center. A User ID can be selected from the User table. This field is only for information purposes.

    • Sorting Order - Typically, the cost centers are sorted in ascending order by using the Code field. In the Sorting Order field, users can establish a different sorting order. The Cost Center that must appear first should have a value of A or 1 in this field. If several lines have the same entry, the program uses the Code field as a secondary criterion for sorting.

    • Balance At Date - This field shows the balance of all postings in the cost type up to the end date.

    • Balance to Allocate - This field shows the balance that hasn't yet been allocated. The entry in the Allocated field in the Cost Entry table determines whether the entry is included in this FlowField. The value in the Allocated field is set during the automatic allocation.

  4. Close the Cost Center Card page.