Configuring Cost Categories (Advanced Model)

Cost categories define the types of cost your initiatives track, and how each is recorded — which series are entered, whether actuals replace earlier values, and how variance from budget is shown. Cost categories are set up under Administration > Cost Group & Category, and then enabled on the initiative classifications that should use them.

This article covers the Advanced Model, and needs administrator access. For the Simple Model, see Configuring Cost Categories (Simple Model).

How costs are organized

Three things work together to define a cost:

• Cost classification — the top-level type, such as Capital or Operating. It sets the name and color used across Amplify.
• Cost group — a way of grouping related categories, such as Operational Expenses.
• Cost category — the specific type of cost users pick when they create one, such as Infrastructure or Employee Benefits. Each category belongs to a classification and a group, and holds the settings for how its costs are recorded.

Set them up in that order: a cost category can't be created until a cost classification exists.

Creating a cost classification

To create a cost classification:

1. Navigate to Administration > Classifications.

   

2. Click + Classification at the top right.

   

3. Select Cost Category as the Object Type. The General Configuration tab opens.

   

4. Enter a Name.
5. Select a Color.
6. Check Enable External ID where integrations need to match these costs with records in another system.
7. Click Create.

   

To edit an existing cost classification, click Edit next to it on the Classifications page, make your changes, and click Save.

Properties tab

A cost classification's Properties tab sets which fields costs under it have — built-in fields, such as External identifier, and custom fields mapped to the classification. For each field, choose whether to Include on Create, which shows it on the form when a cost is created. Fields not included on create can still be filled in afterwards. To stop using a custom field on this classification, select Remove Mapping… on its row. The tab is available once the classification has been created.

For creating custom fields, mapping them, and the settings that belong to the field itself, such as Required, see Custom Fields (Advanced Model).

Creating a cost group

To create a cost group:

1. Navigate to Administration > Cost Group & Category.

   

2. Click + New Cost Group.

   

3. Enter a Name.

   

4. Click Create.

Creating a cost category

To create a cost category:

1. On the Cost Group & Category page, click + Cost Category.

   

2. Configure the settings, described below.
3. Click Create.

Cost category settings

• Name — the category's name, shown to users when they create a cost.
• Classification — the cost classification the category belongs to.
• Cost Group — the group the category belongs to.
• Show Cost Group on Cost Profile — shows the cost's group on each cost's page.
• Enabled Series — which series users record for these costs: Budget, Forecast, and Actual. At least one must be enabled. Next to each, Prevent modifications stops that series from being changed once entered — typically used where values are imported from another system.
• Replace Series Behaviour — what happens once an actual is recorded for a period:
  • Replace Budget with Actual Values — the actual replaces that period's budget.
  • Replace Forecast with Actual Values — the actual replaces that period's forecast.

Variance

Turn on Variance to color-code Actual and Forecast values by how far they are from Budget, on the cost ledger's bowler chart. Variance needs Budget and either Actual or Forecast to be enabled.

• Favourable Direction — which way from Budget counts as good:
  • Higher is Better — any value at or above Budget shows as On Track. The thresholds only apply once a value falls below Budget.
  • Lower is Better — any value at or below Budget shows as On Track. The thresholds only apply once a value rises above Budget. This is the usual choice for costs.
  • On Target — distance from Budget is what matters. The thresholds apply in both directions.
• Thresholds — the percentage variance from Budget for each band:
  • On Track — variance is equal to or less than the first value.
  • At Risk — variance is between the two middle values.
  • Off Track — variance is equal to or greater than the last value.
  Thresholds must be between 0% and 100%, and the bands can't overlap.

Users show or hide the colors with the Bowler Chart option in the ledger's Settings menu — see Register Views.

Default classification

One cost classification is the default. Click Make Default on a cost classification's edit page, under Default Classification, to make it the default. The first cost classification created becomes the default automatically, and only one can be the default, so the new default replaces the previous one.

Enabling costs for an initiative

Costs can only be created on initiatives whose classification allows them. To enable cost categories on an initiative classification:

1. Navigate to Administration > Classifications.
2. Click the initiative classification you want to enable costs for.
3. On the General Configuration tab, scroll down to Enable Local Costs.

   

4. Make sure Enable Local Costs is checked.
5. Select the cost categories you want to be available from Available Cost Categories.

   

6. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

   

Where a cost category is removed from Available Cost Categories and initiatives of that type already have costs in it, a message shows how many costs will be deleted. Click Revert to keep the category, or save to delete the costs.

Deleting a cost category

To delete a cost category:

1. On the Cost Group & Category page, click the delete icon next to the cost category.
2. Amplify lists every initiative that has costs in this category, with a link to each. Check the list before you go on.
3. Confirm.

The cost category and its costs are deleted straight away. Where it was the last category in its cost group, the group's widgets are removed too. Figures across Amplify are then refreshed in the background. The last cost category can't be deleted.

Deleting a classification

To delete a cost classification:

1. Click Edit next to the cost classification on the Classifications page.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Delete….
4. Amplify lists every cost category under this classification that will be deleted. Check the list before you go on.
5. Confirm.

The classification is removed straight away. Its cost categories, and their costs, are then deleted in the background, which can take a few minutes where there are many.

The default classification can't be deleted, and neither can the last cost classification.

For creating costs and recording their values, see Managing Costs.