Understanding the Cost Center in General Ledger

The cost center from a manual JV posting is defined in the created Account Ledger in Master Data > Accounting Menu > Account Ledgers.

During setup of customized account ledgers in Master Data > Accounting Menu > Account Ledgers, the cost center for that particular account ledger is defined. The cost center entered in the account ledger is created and maintained in Master Data > Accounting Menu > Cost Centers.

The cost center in the manual JV posting in Master Data > Accounting Menu > Manual JV is taken from the value entered in the Cost Center of the created Account Ledger. If a fixed cost center is entered, for example: 12345, then the cost center for the manual JV posting is automatically, 12345.

However, it is possible to set up flexible cost center rules when the value in the Cost Center Rule column of the created Account Ledger is set to Y. When this feature is activated, the cost center value is derived from a particular set of cost center rules depending on the type of posting.

Note: The cost centers of participants, such as the Shipper, Customer, Invoice Agent, and Import Agent and others are taken from the cost center value entered in the Cost Center field in the Forwarder or Participant record.
For ER and AF postings
  1. The cost center set in the Master Data > Accounting Menu > Cost Centers screen is used.
  2. If the cost center is not set in the Cost Centers screen, the system uses the cost center from the Sales Area screen.
  3. If the cost center is not set in the Sales Area screen, the system uses the cost center from the Account Ledger screen.
For CC postings
  1. The cost center set in the Shipper screen is used.
  2. If the cost center is not set in the Shipper screen, the system uses the cost center from the Import Agent screen.
  3. If the cost center is not set in the Import Agent screen, the system uses the cost center from the Sales Area screen.
  4. If the cost center is not set in the Sales Area screen, the system uses the cost center from the Account Ledger screen.
For other non-CC postings
  1. The cost center set in the Shipper screen is used.
  2. If the cost center is not set in the Shipper screen, the system uses cost center from the Consignee screen.
  3. If the cost center is not set in the Consignee screen, the system uses the cost center from the Cost Center screen.
  4. If the cost center is not set in the Cost Center screen, the system uses the cost center from the Sales Area screen.
  5. If the cost center is not set in the Sales Area screen, the system uses the cost center from the Account Ledger screen.

It is also possible to have flexible cost center set up in the Account Ledger screen when the Cost Center column is populated with a non-fixed cost center value, such as P or C only. In such cases, the cost center in the manual JV posting is derived depending on the kind of posting.

For CS postings
  1. The system uses the cost center of the Customer in the Payment record of the AWB.
  2. If the AWB has no payment record, the system uses the cost center of the invoiced Agent.
  3. If the AWB has no payment record and the invoiced Agent's cost center is also blank, the system uses cost center from the Sales Area of the station of the invoiced Agent.
For AC postings
  1. The system uses the cost center of the invoiced Agent.
  2. If the invoiced Agent's cost center is blank, the system uses the cost center from the Sales Area of the station of the invoiced Agent.
For AF postings
  1. For CC AWBs, the cost center record from the Cost Center screen that matches the AWB Destination station becomes the cost center for the manual JV posting.
For CC Postings
  1. The cost center record from the Cost Center screen that matches the AWB Destination station becomes the cost center for the manual JV posting.
For ER Postings
  1. The cost center record from the Cost Center screen that matches the AWB sector origin station becomes the cost center for the manual JV posting.