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JC Cost Types

Company Tracker action: implementation-setup-jc-cost-types Milestone: Job Cost / Module Setup (milestone_id=5, core_milestone_id=2) Order: 2 Estimated duration: 0.25 hours Typical owner: Controller

Purpose​

Lock the Job Cost cost-type list (categories costs post to inside a job phase) before department GL mapping and phase loads. Cost types drive posting, progress entry, projections, and Job Billing T&M grouping.

Prerequisites​

  • JC Company Parameters accepted for this company.
  • Reporting / GL chart needs known enough to decide how many types JC Departments must map.
  • Agree which types track hours and which secondary types link to a primary for progress / projection auto-update.
  • HQ Units of Measure reviewed if cost types will reference UOM (especially LS lump-sum behavior).
  • Job Billing T&M in scope (or explicitly deferred) so JB Cost Type Category letters matter.

Vista configuration article​

See the detailed Vista guide:

Setting Up JC Cost Types

Field meanings and form steps live there. Do not restate them on this page.

Implementation guidance​

Decide (client / kickoff)​

  • Cost-type list: how many numeric types (Vista allows 0–255) and what they mean for reporting. Prefer the standard starter below; extend only when the chart / project controls require it (accruals, sales tax, etc.).
  • Recommended starter pattern (standard for consistency; not a locked client list):
    1. Labor
    2. Material
    3. Subcontract
    4. Owned Equipment
    5. Rented Equipment
    6. Other
    7. Burden
    • Keep 6 = Other across clients so reporting stays consistent. Put Burden at 7. If the client does not track burden separately, omit type 7.
    • Clients may add more types for accounting breakouts (accruals, sales tax, and similar).
  • Track Hours: leave ON for Labor and Owned Equipment by default.
    • Rented Equipment: ON only when the client posts hours against rentals on the job (for example operator hours charged with the rental). Many clients only land rental cost from AP invoices with no hours — leave Track Hours OFF in that case.
    • If Track Hours is OFF and someone posts hours anyway, those hours do not show. If it is ON and no hours post, nothing harmful is tracked.
  • Link Progress Cost Type: most common is Burden → Labor. On Cost Projections / Progress Entry, when Labor is set to (for example) 60% complete, Burden becomes 60% complete too so burden follows labor without a second update. Do not link types that need their own unit or % complete.
  • JB Cost Type Category: always assign the standard map, even if Job Billing T&M is not in Phase 1 scope (avoids broken T&M later):
    • 1 Labor → L
    • 2 Material → M
    • 3 Subcontract → S
    • 4 Owned Equipment → E
    • 5 Rented Equipment → E
    • 6 Other → O
    • 7 Burden → B (omit with type 7 if burden is not tracked)

Load / accept (implementation defaults)​

  • Assign stable numeric IDs early; adding types later is fine, renumbering after posted costs is not.
  • Prefer abbreviations whose first alphabetic character is unique so lookup matches with one keystroke.
  • Restrict the form to administrators. Add types after live processing if needed; deletes are tightly constrained.
  • Review Track Hours, Link Progress, and JB categories with accounting before go-live. Wrong flags break progress, projections, and T&M grouping silently until someone notices.
  • Accept means the list is ready for JC Departments open/closed account mapping per cost type.

Tips and gotchas​

  • Delete a cost type only when no costs are posted to it and it is not assigned to any job phase.
  • Track Hours: Labor + Owned Equipment on; Rented Equipment on only if job hours (not just AP rental cost) will post — unchecked + hours posted hides the hours.
  • Link Progress: Burden → Labor so projection / progress % on labor carries to burden; skip links when a type must stay independent.
  • JB categories: always set the standard L/M/S/E/E/O/B map even when T&M is not live yet so a later rollout does not look broken.
  • Owned vs Rented Equipment are already split in the standard starter (types 4 and 5); do not collapse them unless the client truly will not track that break.
  • Linking Burden to Labor without agreeing the auto-update behavior surprises estimators who expected independent % complete.
  • Extra cost types without matching department GL accounts leave holes when Cost / Close interfaces turn on.
  • If PM Cost Projections are in use, each projection-code / linked-type combination also needs Proj Code Units on that path.
  • UOM LS on related masters blocks units entry; flag that when cost types and phases assume quantities.

Done when​

  • In-scope cost types exist with descriptions, unique-first-letter abbreviations, Track Hours, Link Progress, and JB categories accepted.
  • Standard starter (1 Labor, 2 Material, 3 Subcontract, 4 Owned Equipment, 5 Rented Equipment, 6 Other, 7 Burden) or a documented client variance is written down for the implementation record.
  • List is ready for department GL mapping; form security limited to admin / designated owners.