Cost Centers

A cost center in construction is a separate accounting entity that groups all expenses and revenues associated with a specific project (site, contract, tender). Every employee time entry, material invoice, fuel cost, delivery note is automatically allocated to the respective cost center. This way you know EXACTLY how much each project costs in real-time, can compare profitability between sites, and make informed decisions about resource allocation. Without cost centers, all expenses are mixed and you cannot know which project is profitable and which is losing money until the end of the month when it's too late to intervene.

Allocation is 100% automatic through direct integrations: 1) Employee time tracking - when clocking in, selects the project/site and labor cost is instantly allocated to the respective cost center. 2) Fleet GPS tracking - the system automatically detects which site zone the vehicle is in and allocates fuel proportionally to time spent. 3) Material procurement - when photographing delivery note, you select the cost center and the system makes the automatic link. 4) Supplier invoices - upon entry/OCR scanning, you specify the project and allocation is instant. Zero manual calculations, zero Excel, everything tracked in real-time.

Yes, the system perfectly handles this common scenario in construction. An employee working 3 days on Site A and 2 days on Site B will have labor cost automatically allocated proportionally (3/5 on A, 2/5 on B) based on daily time entries where they select the project. Similarly, a bulldozer working in the morning on one site and afternoon on another will have costs automatically split based on GPS tracking that detects which zone the equipment is in. Fuel, maintenance expenses, depreciation cost - all are split proportionally without any manual intervention.

Reports are generated instantly on demand with live data from the field: 1) Profitability dashboard - total costs vs revenues per center, updated in real-time with each transaction. 2) Comparative project report - side-by-side view for all sites to see which perform. 3) Budget vs Actual - automatic comparison between planned costs from offer and actual cumulated expenses. 4) Category breakdown - exact detail of how much you spent on materials, labor, equipment, transport per project. 5) Financial export - formatted reports for accounting, investors, auditors in Excel/PDF. All updated in real-time, no more waiting for month-end.

The system automatically monitors each cost center and generates real-time alerts: 1) Budget overrun alert - if a category (e.g., materials) exceeds the planned budget by X%, you receive instant notification to investigate. 2) Negative trend alert - if the daily consumption rate indicates you will exceed the total budget at the end, the system warns you in advance 2-3 weeks before. 3) Comparison with similar projects - if a site has significantly higher costs than comparable others, you see the discrepancy instantly. 4) Consumption anomalies - unexpected spike in fuel, excessive time entries, unplanned purchases - all detected automatically. This way you can intervene quickly with corrective measures when the problem is still small, not after 2 months when you've already lost 50,000 RON.

Initial setup takes 2-5 working days: Day 1-2: Creating cost center structure - add each active project/site, configure expense categories (materials, labor, etc), define planned budgets if you have won offers. Day 3: Optional history import - you can import the last 1-3 months of data for context or start fresh. Day 4-5: Team training - site managers learn to allocate time entries and materials to centers, managers learn to interpret reports. From day 6 the system is live and cost centers populate automatically with each field action. In the first week you already see complete visibility on each project. For large companies with 20+ projects, the process may take 2 weeks.

When a project closes, the cost center moves to 'Completed' status but all data remains permanently accessible for retrospective analysis. You have complete access to: 1) Complete financial history - all expenses and revenues with granular details from start to finish. 2) Budget vs actual comparison - see exactly where you deviated from planning and by how much. 3) Archived documents - all invoices, delivery notes, reports, work statements linked to the project. 4) Profitability analysis - exact calculation of net profit, margins, ROI for completed project. 5) Template for future - you can use real data as basis for estimates in similar future tenders. The system automatically generates a 'Project Closure Report' with all essential KPIs that becomes learning material for the team. Ideal for audits, litigation, or simply to improve estimates on future projects.