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Setting Up JC Cost Types

JC Cost Types are the categories of work (labor, materials, subcontracts, owned equipment, rented equipment, other, burden) that costs post to within a job phase. Vista supports up to 255 numeric cost types (0-255). Each type drives posting, JC Progress Entry, JC Cost Projections, and Job Billing T&M grouping.

:::caution Admin-only / change carefully Define cost types as part of JC startup. Restrict this form to administrators. You can add types after processing starts; deletes are tightly constrained (see Notes). :::

Before you start​

  • JC Company Parameters exist before JC processing.
  • Decide how many types you need for reporting and GL mapping in JC Departments (standard starter set: 1 Labor, 2 Material, 3 Subcontract, 4 Owned Equipment, 5 Rented Equipment, 6 Other, 7 Burden; omit 7 if burden is not tracked separately).
  • Know which types should track hours and which should link for progress / projection auto-update.
  • You have admin permission to maintain cost types.

Steps​

Identity​

  1. Open JC Cost Types.
  2. Enter a numeric Cost Type ID (0-255).
  3. Enter Description (at most 30 characters) and Abbreviation (at most 10 characters). The abbreviation is what posting programs show as the cost-type label. Prefer an abbreviation that clearly identifies the type.

Track Hours​

  1. Set Track Hours:
    • Checked: the type tracks hours in addition to units and costs (typical for Labor and Owned Equipment; add Rented Equipment when job hours post with rentals). Hour fields on progress and projection forms stay enabled for that type.
    • Unchecked: only units and costs are tracked; hour plug fields on projections are disabled for that type.
  1. Optionally set Link Progress Cost Type to a primary cost type. Open the secondary type and point it at the primary (for example open Burden and link to Labor). Behavior:
    • In JC Progress Entry and cost projections, updates to the primary can auto-update linked types' units or percent complete when they share those values.
    • Plugging a value on the primary in JC / PM Cost Projections also updates the linked secondary.
    • Do not link types that need independent unit or % complete entry.
    • For PM projections, each projection-code / linked-type combination also needs Proj Code Units when that path is in use.

JB Cost Type Category​

  1. Set JB Cost Type Category so Job Billing T&M and projection detail fields group correctly. Spell the letter codes in the form:

    • L Labor
    • B Burden
    • M Material
    • S Subcontract
    • E Equipment
    • O Other

    Projection Detail columns (for example Hrs/Unit) enable based on this category (Labor, Equipment, and Burden commonly unlock hour-related plugs).

Notes and save​

  1. Add form Notes or HQ Standard Notes when the company documents type intent on the master.
  2. Save. Repeat for each type. You can add types after live processing begins.

Notes​

  • Make the first alphabetic character of each abbreviation unique so lookup matches with one keystroke (Vista walks first alpha, then second, and so on until it identifies the type).
  • Delete a cost type only when no costs are posted to it and it is not assigned to any job phase.
  • Track Hours and JB category affect progress, projections, and T&M billing; review them with accounting before go-live.
  • Related setup: JC Company Parameters, JC Departments, JC Job Phases, JC Progress Entry, JC Cost Projections.