Adding and Editing Cost Centers (in progress)

A Cost Center is a pre-assigned area of cost or department that can be used to filter things like schedule items and employees. 

For companies that use ePro Scheduler Plus for timekeeping, cost centers may also play a part in generating a payroll import file and should match department codes used in the payroll application.

Important things to note:
Once you have created a Cost Center, all fields can be edited except the Keyword Value. If the name of a Cost Center has changed, you will need to either create a new Cost Center and hide the old or contact support for assistance. 

 

Getting Started:

To begin adding or editing Cost Centers in your system, you will navigate to Administrator > Keywords.

This will take you to a page where you will choose the Cost Centers option from the 'Keyword Lists' drop down field shown below. 

 

To add a new Cost Center, you will enter the Keyword Value, Descriptor, and Sort Order. You will then click the green 'Add' button.

• The 'Keyword Value' is the name or code that represents your Cost Center. This can have any naming convention appropriate for your company. In our examples, we have listed them as three digit numbers. This field can not be changed or edited once it has been created.
• The 'Descriptor' is a more long hand way of describing the Cost Center Keyword Value.
• The 'Sort Order' will determine where the Cost Center shows up in your list. You can list this as a whole number or with a decimal value like in our example. 
• The 'Default Row' check box will allow you to indicate if this Cost Center should be the default item that always shows up in the Cost Center drop down fields across the system. 
• The 'Hide' check box will allow you to hide or unhide the Cost Center from the system, essentially making it inactive. 

 

 

Once you have added your new Cost Center, the page will refresh. Showing it in the list depending on the sort order you chose. In our example, the PT Cost Center is listed under the Off Roster Cost Center because we used a decimal to insert it within the existing sort order.

 

To edit an existing Cost Center you will click on the blue link of the Cost Center keyword. This will populate the fields with the Cost Center's details. Once you make a change, such as hiding the Cost Center, or adjusting the descriptor, you will click the blue 'Update' button. 

 

 

Adding a Home Cost Center to Employee Profiles:

Cost Centers should be added to employee profiles to help filter based on their work location or department. Without a Home Cost Center listed, the employee will not show up in a payroll import file for those using the timekeeping and payroll tools.

You can do this by navigating to Employees > Manage Employees. Here you would choose the employee from the drop down menu to open their profile. 

Next you will scroll to the section 'Professional Profile' to add their 'Home Cost Center.' Once you have chosen the Cost Center, you will click the green 'Save' button. 

 

Now you can filter reports based on the employee's Home Cost Center field and the employee will properly show up in payroll files.

In this example, using a Dynamic Employee Report, you can see the full list of employees before using the Cost Center filter. 

Here is the same report after using the Cost Center to filter the results.

 

 

 

Adding a Cost Center to Shifts and Shift Profiles:

The Cost Center should also be listed in the Shift Profiles. This defines the cost center that ends up in the schedule item (unless "use employee cost centers" is enabled), and whatever is in the schedule item for a shift will be listed in the payroll import file. 

To add the Cost Center to a shift profile you will navigate to ePro Scheduler > Scheduling Admin > Manage Shifts > Manage Shift Profiles. Here you will choose the profile from the drop down menu you would like to update. Next choose the Cost Center for the shift and click the blue 'Save Profile' button. 

 

You can also add the Cost Center directly to a specific schedule item by clicking the pencil and paper icon beside the shift shown here. 

 

This brings up the Manage Shift window allowing you to update the Cost Center directly. Once you have chosen the Cost Center for the shift, you will click the green 'Save' button.

 

In our example, using the Schedule Worksheet, you can first see all schedule items for the day when all Cost Centers have been selected. 

 

Here you can see the filtered results of choosing a specific Cost Center.