Mapping Materials to Cost Codes for Job Costing
🧾 Mapping Materials to Cost Codes for Job Costing in Ontraccr
Overview
Accurate job costing is essential for tracking project profitability. Ontraccr allows you to assign cost codes to each material so that when items are used in workflows (like daily logs or purchase orders), their costs are automatically categorized within project budgets.
This guide explains how to map materials to cost codes and how that mapping affects job costing across forms and workflows.
🏷 What Is a Cost Code?
A cost code is a category used to group costs for budgeting and reporting. Examples include:
- Electrical Materials
- Site Prep
- HVAC Supplies
- General Labor
When a material is linked to a cost code, its usage is automatically classified under that code in job cost reports.
🛠 How to Assign a Cost Code to a Material
- Go to the Materials Page.
- Click Add Material or edit an existing one.
- Scroll to the optional field: Cost Code.
- Select the appropriate cost code from the dropdown.
- Save the material.
📌 Tip: Use consistent naming and formatting for your cost codes to avoid confusion.
🔄 How It Works in Workflows
When a material is:
- Used in a form (e.g., daily log)
- Submitted through a workflow (e.g., Update Cost step)
…the system checks if it has a cost code assigned.
Outcomes:
| Scenario | Result |
|---|---|
| ✅ Material has a cost code | Usage is categorized under that code |
| 🚫 No cost code assigned | Usage is listed under “Uncategorized” |
📌 Tip: Default to “Uncategorized” only if you're not tracking job cost accuracy.
📊 Where Cost Codes Show Up
- Project Budget or Progress Pages
- Cost Reports
- Material Audit Trail
- Update Cost Step Results
🧠 Use Cases
- Track how much of the electrical budget is consumed per job
- Analyze material spending by division or category
- Prevent cost overruns by keeping materials tied to budget lines