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Cost Codes Overview

Cost Codes are an important concept in Clubtreasurer and used to categorise your Receipts and Payments transactions for reporting purposes. They are similar to a “Chart of Account” structure if you are familiar with accounting principles.

Cost Code Structure

The Cost Code Structure is represented as a simple hierarchy:

  • Type: The top level is Type which indicates whether the Cost Codes under it represent “Receipts” or “Payments” to control their use and determine where and how your transactions are reported. (Note that there are two other system-managed Types for “Assets“, “Liabilities“)
  • Parent Code: The Cost Codes are grouped under a Parent Code which represents a logical grouping such as “Membership Income” or “Overheads”. Parent Codes are also used in reporting and analysis.
  • Code Code: This is the lowest level in the hierarchy and represent specific receipt or payment transaction items such as “Annual Subscriptions” or “Heating Costs”. All transactions are entered against Code Codes.

So, from top to bottom the Cost Code structure looks like this:

Example Cost Code Structure:

When entering a transaction (Receipt, Payment or Transfer) you will select an appropriate Cost Code to record it against.

What Cost Codes should I have?

When you first configured Clubtreasurer using the Initial Setup wizard you selected a Cost Code Template that best matched your organisation type. The template seeded a cost code structure appropriate for your organisation type.

The seeded cost code structure should be sufficient for basic use of Clubtreasurer; however, as you become more familiar you will probably want to change the structure, such as renaming and adding new codes (some of these features require a Premium Account – see below)

The basic principle of designing your Cost Code Structure is that it should reflect the types of incomes and expenditures your organisation incurs.

Firstly, it’s a good idea to group similar Cost Codes together under common Parent Codes to provide a better structure. This also improves reporting and analysis.

Your Cost Codes can then reflect the individual Receipt and Payment categories that you want to record.

Example Receipt Parent & Cost Codes:

  • 4000 REVENUES
    • 4005 Bar Takings
      4205 Sponsorships
  • 4100 MEMBERSHIP INCOME
    • 4105 Membership Receipts

Example Payment Parent & Cost Codes:

  • 7000 OPERATING COSTS
    • 7005 Food & Drink Costs
  • 7100 OVERHEADS
    • 7010 Stationary Expenses
      7015 Rental Costs