---
title: "Mapping Materials to Cost Codes for Job Costing"
url: "https://help.ontraccr.com/en/article/mapping-materials-to-cost-codes-for-job-costing"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2025-06-08T18:12:57.900Z"
---

# 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**

1.  Go to the **Materials Page**.
2.  Click **Add Material** or edit an existing one.
3.  Scroll to the optional field: **Cost Code**.
4.  Select the appropriate cost code from the dropdown.
5.  Save the material.

📌 *Tip:* Use consistent naming and formatting for your cost codes to avoid confusion.

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## 🔄 **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