Cost centers in accounting

A cost center is a unit you collect costs under, such as a production line, a department or a workshop. In Rocket ERP cost centers are one list shared by the whole company. Manufacturing uses them to group the costs of its work centers, and the accounting side shows the same list so that accountants can look a cost center up without switching modules.

Where cost centers are managed

You create, rename and deactivate cost centers in the manufacturing module, under Manufacturing › Costing & Reports › Cost Centers. Each cost center has a unique name within your company. A work center is then linked to its cost center, so the costs of the work done there are grouped under it.

The accounting view of cost centers is read-only. It has no menu item of its own: open it from an address your administrator shares with you, or use the manufacturing screen.

What the accounting view shows

1. Open the cost centers list.

2. Type in Search cost centers… to find one by name.

3. Read the columns: ID, Name, the status (Active or Inactive), Company and Created by.

4. Select a row to open the Cost center details.

Before you rely on it

• Permission. Both views use the manufacturing cost center permission, not the general accounting permissions. If an accountant cannot open the list, ask your administrator to add that permission to the accountant's group.

• Journal entries. Manual journal entries, receipts and payments are posted to accounts only. They do not carry a cost center. To analyse costs by department in the general ledger, give each department its own level-5 expense accounts in the chart of accounts.

Common questions

Why can I not add a cost center here? The accounting view is a lookup. Add the cost center in the manufacturing module, and it appears in this list at once.

Can two cost centers have the same name? No. Names are unique within your company, so each one is easy to tell apart in reports.