Cost Codes & Cost/Billing Rates for Equipment

💲 Cost Codes & Cost/Billing Rates for Equipment
 

📘 Overview

In Ontraccr, you can associate equipment with cost codes to support job costing, budgeting, and billing processes. Each equipment item can also have its own internal costs and external billing rates defined, which work in conjunction with cost code configurations.

This article explains how cost codes interact with equipment and how Ontraccr determines which rates apply when both are set.

🏷️ What Is a Cost Code?

A Cost Code is a predefined category used in your job costing system to track labor, materials, or equipment costs.

When tied to equipment, it allows you to:

• Group similar equipment under a unified budgeting code
• Apply consistent cost and billing logic across multiple items
• Automate cost tracking in job cost budgets and reports

🔧 How to Assign a Cost Code

To assign a cost code:

1. Go to the Equipment Page
2. Click Add or Edit on an equipment profile
3. Locate the Cost Code field
4. Select the relevant code from the dropdown
5. Click Submit to save

💰 Setting Cost and Billing Rates

You can define both internal costs and external billing rates directly on the equipment profile:

You may use hourly, daily, or both depending on your billing model.

🔄 How Cost Code Inheritance Works

When both equipment and its linked cost code have rates defined, Ontraccr uses the following logic:

📌 Precedence Rules

This ensures accurate and consistent cost allocation across your projects.

🧠 Use Case Example

Scenario: You have a Bulldozing cost code with an hourly cost of $120 and billing rate of $150.

• You assign that cost code to all bulldozers.
• Any bulldozer without specific rates will inherit those from the cost code.
• If a bulldozer does have its own rates, but the cost code is also configured, the system will use the cost code’s rates, not the equipment’s.