Manage the cost accounting

Cost accounting is a method to identify, measure and record all costs associated with a company's production process. It serves as an internal controlling tool to assess the different business costs and determine profitability by department, producer, client, product, or other criteria.

A cost center is a department or a function within a company to which costs may be allocated, such as HR, Accounting or IT. It can also be defined at a smaller level according to management needs, for instance involving a particular job position or machine.

A cost object is a product or service in relation to which costs are ascertained. The cost object is determined by the nature of business. It can be the final item produced or a part of it, but can also be expressed differently, for instance in batches of items.

You can create, edit and delete both cost centers and cost objects.

Create a cost center

You can create a cost center that is not yet available in the system.

Prerequisites

A fiscal year has been selected, see Select the fiscal year.

Procedure

Accounting > Settings > Tab COST ACCOUNTING

1. In the header, configure the following options:

   • Click the left Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired fiscal year. All available fiscal years are displayed.
   • Click the middle Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired posting period. All available posting periods are displayed.
   • Click the right Cost accounting drop-down list and select the Cost 1 - cost center option.

   All existing cost centers for the selected period are displayed in the list below. The input fields at the bottom are displayed for a cost center.

2. Enter a number in the Cost center field in the bottom input fields.

   If a number is entered that is already in use, an error message is displayed when clicking the [SAVE & NEW] button.

3. Enter a name for the cost center in the Description field.

4. If desired, enter any additional information in the Text field.

5. If desired, select the Inactive radio button to deactivate the cost center temporarily. An inactive cost center is locked for postings. By default, the Active radio button is selected.

6. Click the [SAVE & NEW] button.
   The new cost center has been saved and is displayed in the list. The Saved pop-up window is displayed.

   

Edit a cost center

You can edit a cost center, for example if it needs to be deactivated.

Be aware that any changes made to a cost center may have consequences for the posting process.

Prerequisites

• A fiscal year has been selected, see Select the fiscal year.
• A cost center has been created, see Create a cost center.

Procedure

Accounting > Settings > Tab COST ACCOUNTING

1. In the header, configure the following options:

   • Click the left Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired fiscal year. All available fiscal years are displayed.
   • Click the middle Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired posting period. All available posting periods are displayed.
   • Click the right Cost accounting drop-down list and select the Cost 1 - cost center option.

   All existing cost centers for the selected period are displayed in the list below. The input fields at the bottom are displayed for a cost center.

2. Select the cost center to be edited in the list.
   The cost center details are displayed in the input fields.

   

3. Make any necessary changes.

   The cost center number cannot be changed. If you change the number and save the cost center, a new cost center will be created and added to the list.

4. Click the [SAVE] button.
   All changes have been saved. The edited cost center is displayed in the list. The Saved pop-up window is displayed.

   

Delete a cost center

You can delete a cost center, for example if it is no longer applicable. If a posting period is displayed in the Active from column, the cost center is currently in use and cannot be deleted.

Prerequisites

• A fiscal year has been selected, see Select the fiscal year.
• A cost center has been created, see Create a cost center.

Procedure

Accounting > Settings > Tab COST ACCOUNTING

1. In the header, configure the following options:

   • Click the left Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired fiscal year. All available fiscal years are displayed.
   • Click the middle Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired posting period. All available posting periods are displayed.
   • Click the right Cost accounting drop-down list and select the Cost 1 - cost center option.

   All existing cost centers for the selected period are displayed in the list below. The input fields at the bottom are displayed for a cost center.

2. Select the cost center to be deleted in the list.
   The cost center details are displayed in the input fields.

   Loss of data
   Deleting will permanently remove the selected data. The deletion cannot be undone and the deleted data cannot be restored.
   Problems may occur due to unresolved dependencies.
   Make sure you really want to delete the selected data.

   

3. Click the [DELETE] button.
   The selected cost center has been deleted and is removed from the list. The Deleted pop-up window is displayed.

   

Create a cost object

You can create a cost object that is not yet available in the system.

Prerequisites

A fiscal year has been selected, see Select the fiscal year.

Procedure

Accounting > Settings > Tab COST ACCOUNTING

1. In the header, configure the following options:

   • Click the left Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired fiscal year. All available fiscal years are displayed.
   • Click the middle Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired posting period. All available posting periods are displayed.
   • Click the right Cost accounting drop-down list and select the Cost 2 - cost object option.

   All existing cost objects for the selected period are displayed in the list below. The input fields at the bottom are displayed for a cost object.

2. Enter a number in the Cost object field in the bottom input fields.

   If a number is entered that is already in use, an error message is displayed when clicking the [SAVE & NEW] button.

3. Enter a name for the cost object in the Description field.

4. If desired, enter any additional information in the Text field.

5. If necessary, enter a debtor number in the Debtor field. If the debtor number is unknown, click the [SEARCH] button to display the Select address window and search for a debtor in the list of all customers.

6. If desired, click the drop-down list and select a profit center. All available profit centers are displayed in the drop-down list. By default, the 0 - No group option is preselected.

   If necessary, click the [EDIT] button to create or edit a profit center.

7. If desired, click the Inactive radio button to deactivate the cost object temporarily. An inactive cost object is locked for postings. By default, the Active radio button is selected.

   If a cost object has already been posted to or allocated to a cost center, the cost object cannot be deactivated. When selecting the Inactive radio button, a warning message is displayed.

8. Click the [SAVE & NEW] button.
   The new cost object has been saved and is displayed in the list. The Saved pop-up window is displayed.

   

Edit a cost object

You can edit a cost object, for example if it needs to be deactivated.

Be aware that any changes made to a cost object may have consequences for the posting process.

Prerequisites

• A fiscal year has been selected, see Select the fiscal year.
• A cost object has been created, see Create a cost object.

Procedure

Accounting > Settings > Tab COST ACCOUNTING

1. In the header, configure the following options:

   • Click the left Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired fiscal year. All available fiscal years are displayed.
   • Click the middle Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired posting period. All available posting periods are displayed.
   • Click the right Cost accounting drop-down list and select the Cost 2 - cost object option.

   All existing cost objects for the selected period are displayed in the list below. The input fields at the bottom are displayed for a cost object.

2. Select the cost object to be edited in the list.
   The cost object details are displayed in the input fields.

   

3. Make any necessary changes.

   The cost object number cannot be changed. If you change the number and save the cost object, a new cost object will be created and added to the list.

4. Click the [SAVE] button.
   All changes have been saved. The edited cost object is displayed in the list. The Saved pop-up window is displayed.

   

Delete a cost object

You can delete a cost object, for example if it is no longer applicable. If a posting period is displayed in the Active from column, it means that the cost object has been posted to and, therefore, cannot be deleted. A warning message with the notice "The cost object (number) cannot be deleted: it is distributed to the cost center/cost object" is displayed.

Prerequisites

• A fiscal year has been selected, see Select the fiscal year.
• A cost object has been created, see Create a cost object.

Procedure

Accounting > Settings > Tab COST ACCOUNTING

1. In the header, configure the following options:

   • Click the left Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired fiscal year. All available fiscal years are displayed.
   • Click the middle Cost accounting drop-down list and select the desired posting period. All available posting periods are displayed.
   • Click the right Cost accounting drop-down list and select the Cost 2 - cost object option.

   All existing cost objects for the selected period are displayed in the list below. The input fields at the bottom are displayed for a cost object.

2. Select the cost object to be deleted in the list.
   The cost object details are displayed in the input fields.

   Loss of data
   Deleting will permanently remove the selected data. The deletion cannot be undone and the deleted data cannot be restored.
   Problems may occur due to unresolved dependencies.
   Make sure you really want to delete the selected data.

   

3. Click the [DELETE] button.
   The selected cost object has been deleted and is removed from the list. The Deleted pop-up window is displayed.