Cost and performance accounting shows which costs arise where and for what.

In teamspace, four types of elements can reflect positive or negative monetary impact: financial items, time entries, cost items and bookings. All four have been extended to allow flexible, rule-based assignment of cost type, cost centre and cost object.

CPA information can be reviewed and edited directly when creating such an element, with the right permissions. Where possible, the assignments are pre-filled automatically. To do so, the system queries different sources in a fixed order, configurable per element type.

As an example, consider the following configuration for cost items:

• Cost type: 1. Expense type
• Cost object: 1. Project
• Cost centre: 1. Employee, 2. Customer

The cost type follows the type of expense (material, travel, etc.). The cost object is the customer project. The cost centre falls back through the employee first, then the customer if the employee has no fixed cost centre.

The new rule-based mechanism makes CPA much easier. Costs are assigned more precisely with little effort. Analysis improves: in various lists (e.g. project times) cost type, cost centre and cost object can be shown as columns and used for filters. Cost drivers and especially profitable products are easy to spot.

With the next release, cost centres and cost objects each get their own detail manager. They are no longer just an attribute on a posting but a place: an overview of the current year and the current month, alongside the movements that have gone through them.

Planned figures come with it. They are stored per month and can be entered one at a time or for a whole stretch at once, the next twelve months for instance. The chart in the overview then sets plan against actual month by month.

A deviation therefore shows up in the month it arises, not at the year-end close. Rather than assembling a report, you look at the cost centre.

teamspace assigns primary costs: cost type, cost centre and cost object on financial items, times, cost elements and postings. That is the basis for attributing costs to whoever caused them.

With the next release, secondary costs are added. From the detail manager you then repost: whatever has accumulated during the month on a head-office function or in administration, you charge to other cost centres or directly to projects. A cost centre can be cleared out entirely for a month this way.

Both stages then show up in the contribution margin. CM 1 works with primary costs, CM 2 additionally with the reposted secondary costs. You see which project carries itself and what remains once it also carries its share of the internal costs.

What teamspace does not do: allocate overhead automatically by a key. There is no cost allocation sheet deciding the distribution for you. And your financial accounting stays with the tax adviser; receipts go through the certified DATEV interface.

CPA aims to identify costs in the company and assign them to their originator. It serves a controlling purpose: internal processes can be reviewed and optimised for economic efficiency.

CPA uses three core dimensions:

• Cost types categorise costs (e.g. material, personnel).
• Cost centres designate the area or department where the cost arose (e.g. production, service, marketing).
• Cost objects are the products or services to which the cost is attributed (e.g. manufacturing, installation, maintenance).

Based on these elements, CPA runs through three stages:

• Cost type accounting: Which costs have occurred? Costs are identified and assigned to a cost type. Possible groupings: by production factor (material, staff) or by business function (procurement, manufacturing, sales). Direct costs (allocatable to a cost object) flow into cost object accounting. Indirect costs (overhead) are first treated in cost centre accounting.
• Cost centre accounting: Where did the costs arise? Overheads are distributed across cost centres according to an internal key. Typically these correspond to company departments. A distinction is made between main and auxiliary cost centres — main cost centres are directly involved in value creation, auxiliary cost centres deliver preliminary services to other cost centres.
• Cost object accounting: Why did the costs arise? Direct and indirect costs are then attributed to the cost objects. Two calculation methods apply: unit cost accounting calculates cost per unit; period cost accounting looks at all cost in a time period, which can then be compared to revenue to determine operating result.

The resulting cost distribution allows conclusions about the efficiency of the value creation, reveals savings potential and assesses product profitability.

• E-invoicing (ZUGFeRD and XRechnung)
• Dunning
• Order billing
• DATEV export
• Billing software