Cost Categories Overview

A cost category is used to define costs into a category more specific than a CBS code. The most commonly used cost category types are labor, equipment, materials, and other. These types allow you to categorize costs into groups. For example, you may want to track costs associated with labor. However, that label may be too broad. You can create a cost category called Subcontractor Labor with a type of Labor. This cost category can be assigned to all budget line items or actual line items that are a result of subcontractor labor.

When you create cost categories, you should evaluate what fields you want to be enabled for use, particularly if you plan to use the calculation fields. Different cost categories enable different fields. A cost category type of Other will not enable any extra fields.

Labor: If the cost category type is Labor, Quantity, Unit of Measure, Production Rate, and Labor Rate are editable fields. Cost for a budget line item with a labor cost category is equal to Quantity multiplied by Production Rate multiplied by Labor Rate. You can also manually enter the Cost.

Equipment: If the cost category type is Equipment, Quantity, Unit of Measure, and Unit Rate are editable fields. Cost for a budget line item with an equipment cost category is equal to Quantity multiplied by Unit Rate. You can also manually enter the Cost.

Materials: If the cost category type is Materials, Quantity, Unit of Measure, and Unit Rate are editable fields. Cost for a budget line item with a materials cost category is equal to Quantity multiplied by Unit Rate. You can also manually enter the Cost.

Other: Other is the most broad cost category type, which is used when your costs do not fall into the labor, equipment, or materials types. Cost categories with a type of Other allow the user to enter a cost value only. All other fields used for calculating costs are unavailable.