How to Use Cost Centres

Overview

Cost centres are an integral part of Simpro Premium and are involved in the job and costing process. Use cost centres to separate operational costs and operating services within your business for reporting purposes.

When setting up cost centres, think about how you currently report on your operational costings between various operating services in your accounting package. For example, if you want to report on your profitability for service works and maintenance works separately, you would create a 'Service Works' cost centre and a 'Maintenance Works' cost centre, and assign the relevant cost centres to jobs when you create them.

To break down your reporting even further, cost centres can be grouped together in business groups. Learn more in How to Use Business Groups.

How are cost centres associated with leads, quotes and jobs?

In Simpro Premium, you assign a single cost centre to a lead, and you can assign multiple cost centres to quotes and jobs. For example, you might have a single job site that needs different kinds of labour. Parts and labour are added to each cost centre as required. You also create schedules within cost centres. In project jobs, cost centres are organised in sections.

When a job is then invoiced, the invoice is sent to the relevant account that is specified by the cost centre.

In order to view content or perform actions referred to in this article you need to have the appropriate permissions enabled in your security group. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Security Groups and access your security group to update your permissions. The relevant security group tab and specific permissions for this article can be found here:

Cost Centres

A screenshot of Create Cost Centre page.

To create a cost centre:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Accounts > Cost Centres.
  2. Click Create Cost Centre.
  3. Enter the Cost Centre Name.
  4. Select Income and Expense accounts from the chart of accounts.
  5. Optionally, select Accrual Revenue and Deferral Revenue accounts. Learn more in How to Set Up Accruals and Deferrals of Revenue.
  6. Enter the Monthly Sales Budget and Monthly Expenditure Budget.
  7. Select Default Labour Rate and Default Service Fee, as required. Cost centre default rates can override job default rates, only if it is allowed in Job Setup and the chosen tier has the selected rate. Learn more in Hierarchy of rates on jobs and quotes.
  8. Click Create.

If a cost centre is set up with an expense account only, then it cannot be selected in jobs. However, if a cost centre is set up with no income or expense account, it can still be selected in jobs.

To archive a cost centre:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Accounts > Cost Centres.
  2. To archive a cost centre, click the A delete icon with a red circle and a white minus symbol. icon next to it.

When a cost centre is archived, it is no longer available for new leads, quotes or jobs. Also, you can no longer assign it to employees, contractors or plant and equipment for scheduling. However, the cost centre continues to exist on any projects created prior to being archived. Similarly, if the archived cost centre is assigned to any resources, it is no longer visible on their card files.

If you create a project before a cost centre is archived, but the relevant resources are not allocated to the cost centre for scheduling, then you need to:

  • Unarchive the cost centre and assign it to the resource, or
  • Change the cost centre on the project from the Details > Settings tab.

To unarchive a cost centre:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Accounts > Cost Centres.
  2. Select the Show Archived? check box.
  3. Click the green add button to unarchive the relevant cost centre.

Employees can only be scheduled to jobs if they are assigned to the job's cost centre.

To assign cost centres to an employee:

  1. Go to People A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Employees.
  2. Click the employee.
  3. Click the Schedule sub-tab under the Profile tab.
  4. Select from the Cost Centres drop-down list as required. Click the cross icon icon to remove them from the employee.
  5. Click Save and Finish.

Assign the appropriate cost centres to all of your employees based on the work they are doing.

When you assign a cost centre to a quote, job, recurring job, or recurring invoice, you can rename it to provide more information about what is involved in the cost centre.

If you have assigned multiple cost centres of the same type, you can rename them to distinguish them from each other.

You can rename cost centres using the following methods:

You can rename primary cost centres, as well as job variation / change order cost centres and optional quote cost centres in the same way. Learn more in Types of Variations and How to Manage Optional Quotes.

Once a job is partially or completely invoiced, you are not allowed to change the corresponding cost centre so the Cost Centre drop-down list turns inactive. However, you can rename the cost centre at any stage for internal reference and also to modify how it appears to your customer.

A screenshot of the job setup page with the Cost Centre Name field.

  1. Create a service quote / Create a service job / Create a recurring job template / Create a recurring invoice template as normal and go to the Optional tab.
    • Alternatively, go to Details > Settings in an existing quote / job / recurring job / recurring invoice.
  2. Update details as normal and select the relevant Cost Centre.
  3. Enter the Cost Centre Name.
    • The original cost centre name entered when you Create a cost centre appears by default. If you select a different Cost Centre after entering a new Cost Centre Name, the name of the different cost centre overrides the entered name.
  4. Update the remaining details, then click Finish, Update, or Next.

You can rename a cost centre in a quote, job, recurring job, or recurring invoice by going to Details > Settings in the individual cost centre, entering the Cost Centre Name, then clicking Save.

If the quote, job, recurring job, or recurring invoice has multiple cost centres, you need to click Cost Centres in the breadcrumbs to access the Cost Centre List, then access the individual cost centre you wish to rename. Alternatively, you can Rename cost centres in the Cost Centre List.

If you select a different Cost Centre after entering a new Cost Centre Name, the name of the different cost centre overrides the entered name.

To rename a cost centre in a quote, job, recurring job, or recurring invoice that has multiple cost centres, click Cost Centres in the breadcrumbs to access the Cost Centre List.

A screenshot of the Cost Centre Name text box in a cost centre list.

You can then:

  • Select the cost centres you wish to add from the Cost Centres drop-down list, enter the Cost Centre Name, then click Add. If you select multiple cost centres from the drop-down list, the name you enter is applied to all of them.
  • Update existing cost centre names by clicking Options > Rename on the cost centre, entering the name, then clicking OK.

When you click Options > Duplicate / Copy on a cost centre that has been renamed, the duplicated / copied cost centre has the same name.

When you merge cost centres that have been renamed, the name of the cost centre that is being merged to is kept. Learn more in Merge cost centres.

When you rename a cost centre in a quote, job, recurring job, or recurring invoice, the new name appears in the following areas of Simpro Premium:

Quotes, jobs, recurring jobs, and recurring invoices

When you rename a cost centre in the quote / job / recurring job template / recurring invoice template setup page, in the cost centre list, or in Details > Settings within an individual cost centre, it appears in the breadcrumbs when you access the renamed cost centre.

New cost centre names also appear in the following Project Overview sub-tabs when you rename cost centres in a project quote:

  • Materials - Quote Materials
  • Resources - Quote Resources.

They also appear in the following Project Overview sub-tabs in a project job:

  • Projected - Cost to Complete
  • Materials - Job Materials
  • Resources - Job Resources
  • Production - Production Control.
Invoices and requests for claim

When you invoice a job with renamed cost centres, they appear on the invoice above the cost centre table/s. The same applies for requests for claim. Learn more in Invoicing Overview.

If the job you are invoicing does not have renamed cost centres, their default names defined in System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > System Setup > Accounts > Cost Centres appear.
Purchase orders

When you create a purchase order, select Job under Assign To, and enter a job number, renamed cost centres within the job appear in the search results and above the Current Order Items table.

Learn more about creating purchase orders in How to Create a Purchase Order.
Schedules

When you schedule a technician to a cost centre that has been renamed in a quote or job, and you have included the Cost Centre field in System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Defaults > Schedule > Day / Week View Fields, the new cost centre name appears in the schedule block and when you hover over it in Schedules A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Day View / Week View.

If you are scheduling a quote or job that has multiple cost centres, the cost centre name also appears in the drop-down list after you have searched the quote / job number.
Dashboard

New cost centre names appear in quotes, jobs, recurring jobs, and recurring invoices displayed in the Reminders pane on the Simpro Premium dashboard.

They also appear in the Service Dashboard if it has been enabled in your security group settings. Learn more in Dashboard views.
Customer Portal New cost centre names appear on forms you have enabled to be viewed in the Customer Portal. Learn more in Adjust general settings.
Simpro Mobile New cost centre names appear for technicians in Simpro Mobile. Cost centre names cannot be changed in Simpro Mobile.

The new name appears on the following forms if you have the correct settings enabled:

Quote forms

To enable new cost centre names to appear on quote forms in Simpro Premium, go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Forms Setup > Quote > Display Options > Cost Centres and select On under Show Cost Centre Names.

The new cost centre name then displays on the following forms:

  • Description
  • All Itemised forms
  • Schedule of Rates
  • Quote Detail Form.

Learn more in How to Set Up Quote Forms.
Job forms

To enable new cost centre names to appear on job forms in Simpro Premium, go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Forms Setup > Job > Display Options > Cost Centres and select On under Show Cost Centre Names.

The new cost centre name then displays on the following forms:

  • Description
  • All Itemised forms
  • Schedule Timetable
  • Allocated Schedule Overview
  • Stock Analysis - Breakdown
  • Schedule of Rates
  • Job Detail Form.

Learn more in How to Set Up Job Forms.
Invoice forms

To enable new cost centre names to appear on invoice forms in Simpro Premium, go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Forms Setup > Invoice > Display Options > Cost Centres and select On under Show Cost Centre Names.

The new cost centre name then displays on the following forms:

  • Description
  • All Itemised forms
  • Schedule of Rates
  • Description w/ Cost Centre Total.

Learn more in How to Set Up Invoice Forms.
Request for claim forms

To enable new cost centre names to appear on request for claim forms, go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Forms Setup > Request For Claim > Display Options > Cost Centres and select On under Show Cost Centre Names.

The new cost centre name then displays on the following forms:

  • Description
  • All Itemised forms
  • Description w/ Cost Centre Total
  • Schedule of Rates
  • Payment Schedule
  • US only: American Institute of Architects (AIA) Preparation Form.

Learn more in How to Set Up Request For Claim Forms.

Your accounting link only refers to the original cost centre name defined in System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > System Setup > Accounts > Cost Centres when retrieving and breaking down data. It does not use any new names defined in individual quotes, jobs, recurring jobs, or recurring invoices.

Need additional help?

Try Walk Me Through, our step-by-step guidance tool, to create cost centres.

In Simpro Premium, go to Help A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Walk Me Through and search Cost Centres / Cost Centers.

Learn more in How to Use Walk Me Through in Simpro Premium.