is an organizational subunit whose manager is responsible for the cost of an activity for which a well-defined relationship exists between inputs and outputs
A departmental account for which accounting data is collected Identifies the smallest unit of activities or area of responsibility for which accounts are accumulated A cost center can be a program cost center, a project, or an organizational unit such as a college, department, office, shop, etc
Lowest level in the Standard Hierarchy used to capture information by Performing Organization, or carrier account/cost pool Cost Center is a required data element of the Charge Code for all types of funds
The smallest organizational entity where budget and actual cost activities take place, and which has both characteristics pertinent in cost generation and the ability to track and control those costs
An accounting term that refers to a department or function in the organization that does not generate profit See Profit Center
An accounting device whereby all related costs attributable to some "financial center" within an institution, such as a department or program are segregated for accounting or reimbursement purposes
A cost center is a part of ITA that is responsible for managing costs and/or collections See the list of cost center codes in the Reference section for more information
A sub-division of an account that is used for allocating and tracking funds and expenditures within the account Cost centers must be uniquely named within an administrative area
a department or unit that incurs costs alone, such as the accounting or legal department (p 954)
Any department or other unit of the organization or any portion of such a unit for which management chooses to accumulate cost information Cost centers usually parallel an organization's structure
An element in the financial accounting code representing an organizational unit (usually specific to a department) used to isolate costs associated with permanent or ongoing identifiable operations
Payroll transactions may be charged against cost centres to provide various costing reports to help you manage and analyse payroll costs (See How to Set Up Costing)