Cost codes

Page: Settings → Cost Codes

What it is

The coding spine every dollar rolls up by. Estimate lines, budget lines, purchase orders, cost entries and invoice lines each carry a cost code, so a job can be read by trade rather than by receipt. The library seeds itself from the trade taxonomy, and new rows code themselves from their trade text, so upkeep is optional. Each code has a cost type, an optional trade link that auto-coding resolves through, and an optional Xero account its bills post to. It is for the admin, once, and the bookkeeper when the accountant wants the chart laid out differently.

Before you start

• You must be an organisation admin. The page redirects anyone else.
• Xero connected and its chart read (Settings → Chart of Accounts) if you want to pick accounts from a list; otherwise the account is typed.

How to

Change a code

Each row has the code, name, cost type, trade link and account in place.

1. Edit the field. The row gains a Save button.
2. Press Save. Rows coded to it keep their code; the change applies from now on.

Set the Xero account a code posts to

On the row, pick the account under Default purchases account. With the chart loaded the list offers the cost accounts in it; without it, type the code. Blank means the default purchases account chosen on the Xero card. Press Save. Bills and purchase orders coded here post to that account from the next push.

Add a code

At the foot of the library, enter the code (a child code slots between the seeded tens, for example 130.2), a name, the cost type and a trade link, and press Add code. New estimate lines, budget lines, purchase orders and costs matching its trade code to it automatically.

Retire a code

Press Deactivate on a row. The code is hidden from pickers and keeps its history; Restore brings it back. A code you created yourself, once deactivated, can be deleted entirely with the bin icon; rows coded to it fall back to Uncoded. Deactivating is usually the better call.

Do it in chat

Drop a spreadsheet of your codes into chat and ask Base to import it; it maps your codes onto the library and links each to a trade. Base can also add a child code, deactivate the ones you never use, recode a project, or show a job's cost-code rollup.

What happens on its own

• New rows auto-code from their trade text through the trade link.
• The library is seeded for every business from the trade taxonomy.
• Changes the assistant makes appear here without a reload.

Things that surprise people

• A deactivated code still appears here, greyed, with its history intact. Only a deactivated code you created can be deleted.
• An account typed by hand that is not in your chart fails the push. Settings → Chart of Accounts flags it.
• Blank account means the default, not no account.

Related

• Chart of accounts — the same mapping from the account's side, and the approval queue.
• Job costs and supplier bills — the By Cost Code tab.