---
title: "Cost Code Categories in Ontraccr"
url: "https://help.ontraccr.com/en/article/cost-code-categories-in-ontraccr"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2025-08-22T17:59:18.386Z"
---

# Cost Code Categories in Ontraccr

## 🧾 **Cost Code Categories in Ontraccr**

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### 📘 **Overview**

Every cost code in Ontraccr must belong to one of four categories:

1.  **Labor**
2.  **Material**
3.  **Overhead**
4.  **Equipment**

These categories are not cosmetic — they determine how cost codes behave across time tracking, budgets, invoices, and reporting. The category you choose directly affects how data is captured and displayed across the Job Costing system.

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### **📂 The Four Categories Explained**

### 1\. 🧑‍🔧 **Labor**

-   **Used for:** Time tracking
-   **Behavior:** Any cost code assigned to “Labor” can be selected by workers clocking in/out or logging time manually
-   **Common Examples:** “Rough-In,” “Installation,” “Cleanup”
-   **Feeds Into:** Budget labor hours, labor costs, Progress Page (labor section), time tracking reports

### 2\. 🧱 **Material**

-   **Used for:** Tracking purchased or used materials
-   **Behavior:** Tied to the **Materials Database**, quotes from suppliers, and POs
-   **Material cost codes can also be attached directly to material items** from the materials page
-   **Common Examples:** “Lighting Fixtures,” “Conduit,” “Wiring”
-   **Feeds Into:** Material costs in Budget and Progress Page, uncategorized material detection

### 3\. 🧾 **Overhead**

-   **Used for:** Hybrid cases (some time-based, some invoice-based)
-   **Behavior:** Allows both time tracking *and* invoice uploads
-   **Use Cases:** Paper, mileage, job-related travel, admin supplies
-   **Feeds Into:** Overhead sections of Budget and Progress Page

### 4\. 🚜 **Equipment**

-   **Used for:** Equipment usage tracking
-   **Behavior:** Tied to the **Equipment Database**, where each item is linked to a cost code
-   **Enables:** Tracking usage and costs of specific equipment across the project
-   **Feeds Into:** Equipment cost reporting in Progress Page, categorized equipment tracking

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### **⚠️ Why Category Selection Matters**

-   **Time Tracking:**
    -   Only **Labor and Overhead** codes can be used in time entries
-   **Materials & Equipment Usage:**
    -   Material and Equipment cost codes power tracking of usage and purchase orders
-   **Invoice Allocation:**
    -   Material, Overhead, Labour, and Equipment cost codes support invoice uploads
-   **Uncategorized Alerts:**
    -   If a form reports materials/equipment that don’t have associated cost codes, the system flags them under “Uncategorized” in the Budget and Progress pages

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### **🧠 Tips & Considerations**

-   **Don’t misclassify.** Picking the wrong category limits where a cost code can be used
-   **Labor-only company?** You can still use all four categories if needed, even if material/equipment is minimal
-   **Overhead is flexible** but should be used sparingly and only when justified (e.g. job-specific PM travel)