Cost centres and profit centres

Where cost is incurred and where result is measured, and building the hierarchy as a chart.

A cost centre is where cost is incurred; a profit centre is where result is measured. They are separate dimensions on a posting because they answer separate questions, and a business that only carries one of them can answer only one.

• Every posting can carry both, and the reporting cuts by either.
• The hierarchy is built graphically — drag a node under another and the rollup follows. A structure typed as codes into a table is a structure nobody checks.
• Rollups are computed over the hierarchy in force, so a reorganization does not silently rewrite last year’s reports.

Your own cost centre is a preference on your profile. Setting it means the records you create default to it rather than asking every time.