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Company Settings - Cost Codes

How to add, create groups, and manage cost codes to track and identify different types of costs associated with a project.

Josan Garcia avatar
Written by Josan Garcia
Updated this week

Dashboard > Settings > Lists > Cost Codes

Dashboard > Select a Project > Lists > Cost Codes

Permissions

Always remember to ensure the correct people have the appropriate permissions to access your company and project data. This can be done per individual or by applying Permission Templates.


In order to add Cost Codes, users will need Create permissions for Settings

Cost Codes are helpful to identify and track different types of costs associated with a project. If your company uses Cost Codes, you can use the Import feature to bring in all of your Cost Codes at once. You can also create Cost Codes within your SiteMax account at either the Project (Unique) or the Company (Default) level.

Default & Unique Cost Codes

To start, it's important to understand the difference between Default Cost Codes, and Unique Cost Codes:

Default Cost Codes are a feature that allows teams to create a reusable, set list of cost codes used on any given project. These codes can be applied in either Time & Equipment or Purchase Orders & Materials.

Unique Cost Codes provide a way to assign project-specific codes for better tracking and organization of project expenses.

Adding Cost Codes

There are a couple of ways to add cost codes to your system.
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Importing Cost Codes allow you to add a large number of cost codes at once, ensuring accurate and consistent data.
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Creating Cost Codes allows the creation of new cost codes at any time for greater ease of managing your system.

Importing Cost Codes

1. From the Dashboard, click on "Settings". Within the settings, locate and select the "Import/Export" tab under Lists
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2. In the Import/Export tab, scroll down to find the "Import Cost Codes" section. Here, download the "sample CSV file" hyperlink. Click on that name to download the sample file. The sample file serves as a template and ensures proper formatting of the import file.

3. Open the downloaded sample CSV file using a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Delete the sample data provided in the file. Fill in the "CODE" and "DESCRIPTION" fields with the respective details for your cost codes. Leave the "ID (fill to update)" column blank unless you are updating existing data.
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4. Return to the Import/Export Data tab in SiteMax. Scroll down to the "Import Cost Codes" section. Click the "Browse" button and select the CSV file you prepared for import. Once selected, click the "Import" button to initiate the import process. SiteMax will process the file and import the cost codes into the system.

Note: It's important to ensure that the file you import is in CSV format.

Enabling Default Cost Codes

Once you have imported your Cost Codes, you'll want to determine which codes will be Default.

  • From the Company Settings, click on the Lists tab and click on Cost Codes.

  • If there is just a single cost code you want to make default: click on the cost code name. Click on the check box Is default and hit Save

OR

  • If you'd like to make multiple cost codes default, check the check boxes of the desired cost codes then click the Actions drop-down menu and Set as Default Codes

Importing Unique Cost Codes

Remember that Unique Cost Codes are project=specific, so when importing Unique Cost Codes, be sure that you are in the correct project's settings module.

  1. In your Project Settings, under Lists and Cost Codes, click on the Import button at the right of your screen.
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  2. Select from the Import Unique Cost Code options:

    1. Import Unique Codes - Time Card Codes, Equipment

    2. Import Unique Codes - Purchase Order, Materials.

  3. A new screen will appear; click "Browse" to locate and add the CSV file of your new Unique Cost Codes you wish to import.

  4. Once the file has been added, click "Import" and your Unique Cost Codes will begin importing.
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  5. A message will appear when the import is complete, and your new Unique Cost Codes will now be added to your list.

Note; be sure to download the sample CSV file provided in your Import screen.

This is the file that SiteMax will recognize during import. If you already Unique Cost Codes in your project, you will need to Export your data first.

Once exported, you will add your new codes to the export and then follow the import instructions above.
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Find more information on CSV importing/exporting here!

Creating Default Cost Codes

Here is where you can create your own cost codes within your system.

  1. From your Company Settings, go into Lists and then Cost Codes

  2. Click the "Add Code" button

  3. Fill in the code number and description and check the "is default" box

  4. Click Save when complete

Creating Unique Cost Codes

If you have just a small number of Unique Cost Codes that you want to add to your project, it's simpler to just create them directly in your Project.

  1. From the Dashboard, select the project for which you want to add unique cost codes, select your Project Settings, then Lists, and Cost Codes

  2. Click on the "Add Unique Code" button to create a new cost code.
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  3. A new screen will appear. Enter the Code and the description, and then select from the dropdown the appropriate option based on the type of cost codes you wish to add (ie; Time Card Codes, Equipment/Purchase Order, Materials/All).


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  4. After selecting the code type, you can add another unique code by clicking on the plus icon "Add Unique Code" or hit "Save" to save your your new code. Your new Cost Code will now be added to your list of Unique Cost Codes

Disabling Cost Codes for Specific Projects

In situations where you want to restrict the use of certain cost codes for a particular project, you have the option to disable them. Simply, go to the Company Settings > Lists > Cost Codes.

Select the codes you'd like to disable, then click the Actions drop-down menu and select Disable Cost Codes

Creating Cost Code Groups

Use cost code groups to organize your cost codes, making your cost codes more manageable and accessible.

1. Start by clicking on "Settings"

2. Select the "Lists" tab

3. Select the "Cost Codes" tab

4. Click on "Cost Codes"

5. Choose the cost codes you want to group together by selecting the checkboxes beside them

6. Click on "Actions" and select "Create Group with Selected" from the drop-down menu

After creating a cost code group, you can access the list of cost codes under the "Groups" tab. From there, you can also remove a cost code if you don't want it to be part of that particular group.

Managing Company Cost Codes

Cost Codes are essential for identifying and reporting different types of costs across projects. To locate and manage your Company's Cost Codes, you will start by navigating to your Company's Settings. Under the Lists tab, you will find Cost Codes.

Here you can Filter your Cost Codes based on the Code Type: Company Codes or Unassigned Unique Codes.

To manage your Cost Codes, select the Codes you would like to update and click the Actions button.

Using the Actions, you can Create a Group with the selected Codes to better organize and manage Company Codes.

You may also Assign Cost Codes to Projects. Clarify the Context and Projects you are assigning the cost codes for. Conversely, you can Unassign selected codes from Projects.

Also, you can Set Default Codes which will allow users to create from a default set list of Cost Codes used on any given Project. These codes will automatically show up in your Project's Settings under the Cost Codes tab, where you may decide to disable them if needed.

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