Cost Centers are organizational departments used for accounting purposes. Employees can be assigned to Cost Centers in the Employee Demographic Screen. Additionally, employee Time and Attendance can be recorded against the Cost Centers that are configured. Cost Centers can be configured in a hierarchical or flat structure.
- Flat Structure - There is no parent/child relationship and you can select any combination of values.
- Hierarchical Structure - The hierarchical structure carries a parent/child relationship between each Cost Center Level.
Cannot Go From Hierarchical to Flat Structure
If enabling/using a "Hierarchal Structure", be aware that you will not be able to switch to a Flat Structure. When going from a "Flat Structure" to a "Hierarchal Structure", you will receive a warning that you will not be able to switch back to a Flat Structure. When the "Hierarchal Structure" has been enabled, the "Flat Structure" option will not be selectable.
- From the menu, expand Setup and click Setup Properties.
- Hover over Field Value Setup in the top menu bar and click Cost Centers.
Where Cost Centers Are Found/Used
- On the Employee record, the cost center is found under the "Demographic Info" screen for an employee. For more information about Cost Centers for an Employee profile, you can refer to the following article.
- In a flat structure, all cost center names will show in the corresponding dropdowns.
- If using a hierarchical structure, once Level 1 is selected, the subsequent levels will show the available names based on the parent/child relationship.
- On an employee timesheet/time clock from the related functions such as:
Configuring your Flat Structure
- Click the Configuration tab and use the radio button for "Flat".
- Enter a name for the cost center type. If adding another cost center type, click Add Another and repeat. Up to 5 cost center types can be entered. Click Save Configuration when finished.
Adding Values
- Click the Cost Centers tab to set up the values for your cost center types.
- Click the cost center type you will be adding values to.
- Click Add X to enter a value.
- Enter the name and description of the value, then click Save or Save and Add Another as appropriate. Repeat as needed for other cost center types.
Configuring your Hierarchal Structure
No Going Back To A Flat Structure
If enabling a "Hierarchal Structure", be aware that you will not be able to switch to a Flat Structure. When going from a "Flat Structure" to a "Hierarchal Structure", you will receive a warning that you will not be able to switch back to a Flat Structure.
Configuring Hierarchal Structure Types
- Click the Configuration tab and use the radio button for "Hierarchal" if not already enabled.
- Enter a name for the cost center type. If adding another cost center type, click Add Another and repeat. Up to 5 cost center types can be entered. Click Save Configuration when finished.
Adding Values
- Click the Cost Centers tab to set up the values for your cost center types if not already there.
- Click the cost center tab you will be adding values to.
For Cost Center 1
Cost Center 1 will be the top-level parent of your cost centers.
- Click Cost Center 1 if not already there.
- Click Add X to enter a value for Cost Center 1.
- Enter the name and description of the value. Click Save or Save and Add Another as appropriate.
For Cost Center 2-5
Cost Centers 2-5 will have a parent-child relationship with each other. For example, Cost Center 2 will be a child of Cost Center 1, while being the parent of Cost Center 3.
- Click the Cost Center that you want to add values to.
- Click Add X to enter a value for Cost Center 2-5.
- Select a parent from the cost center "above" the currently selected (if adding a value to cost center 2, then the values from cost center 1 will be available). Enter the name and description of the value, then click Save or Save and Add Another as appropriate. Repeat as needed for other cost center types.