Contents of the Manage Cost Pools Screen

Use the fields and options to configure the Manage Cost Pools screen.

Contents

Field Description
Group

Use this drop-down list to select allocation group numbers that have been set up on the Manage Allocation Groups screen. Group 1 is the primary allocation group, in that all the pools in that group allocate to projects; however, you can select any valid allocation group. This is a required field. The adjacent field displays the description of the allocation group.

Fiscal Year

Use this drop-down list to select fiscal years that have been set up in Costpoint General Ledger. You can choose any fiscal year, including years that have been closed. This is a required field.  Pools are identified by pool number and fiscal year.

Pool

Enter a six-digit number that identifies a specific pool within an allocation group and fiscal year. The pool can be an indirect cost pool, which allocates in accordance with a system-derived amount, or a service center, which allocates in accordance with either a system-derived amount or a user-supplied quantity. This is a required field.

Sequence Number

Enter a number that corresponds to the sequence in which the pool is allocated. The sequence number is required on this screen, and you can modify it on the Manage Pool Processing Sequence Numbers screen. Example: Pools 1-4 in Sequence 1, Pools 5-10 in Sequence 2, and Pools 11-20 in Sequence 3. Sequence 1 pools are processed before Sequence 2 pools, and so forth. The assignment of the pool sequence numbers is important because some pools must allocate costs into others before Costpoint can calculate the proper rate.

Pool Type

Use this drop-down list to view the different cost pool types available. The names for the pool types were established on the Manage Allocation Groups screen. The pool type name is an optional entry used to group similar pools on reports, and only to identify pools that apply rates to projects. System-defined pool types include:

  • Fringe
  • Overhead
  • Material Handlg
  • Sub Contr
  • G&A
  • Hm Off G&A

These descriptions may have been modified for your company. Select the type that best represents each pool.

Service Center

Select this check box to identify the cost pool as a service center. Service centers represent a collection of costs that are incurred in the provision of a service. You can allocate these costs to projects or other cost pools in accordance with either a system-derived number of hours or amount, or a user-supplied quantity.

The initial default for this check box is blank. If it remains blank, the Service Center button is disabled and Units is not available as a Basis Type for the pool.

If the check box is selected, the Pool Rates button is disabled, because service centers do not calculate rates that are stored in the Pool Rates table. Also, the Service Center subtask is required before leaving this screen.

Apply Rates to Projects

Select this check box to specify whether the pool allocates to projects. This check box is for cost pools that are not service centers and is designed for unallowable cost pools. The initial default is selected for all cost pools except service centers. For service center pools, it is not available.

For any cost pools that are not in allocation group 1, this check box is not applicable.

Unallowable

Select this check box to designate this pool as unallowable. This means that no revenue calculations are performed on this pool. It has the same effect as placing a burden cost ceiling of zero on every project and account that was burdened by a particular pool (for example, if your company wants to capture entertainment costs in an unallowable pool). This pool then allocates to the projects in the base to reflect the true cost of the project; however, no revenue is generated from this burden. The Unallowable check box is not available unless you selected the Apply Rates to Projects check box.

Exclude Burden from Asset Inventory

Select this check box to exclude G&A cost pools from the calculation of inventory burdening for asset inventory. If you select this check box, the Compute Inventory Burden Rates application excludes from its calculations any accounts that are classified as "asset" (ACCT.s_acct_type_cd = A) on the Manage Accounts screen.

Name

Enter the name of the cost pool. This is a required field.

Short Name

Enter the abbreviation of the cost pool. This is an optional field.

Basis Description

Enter a short description for the pool basis.

Basis Type

Use this group box to describe the basis type.

Field Description
Dollars

Select this option to derive the allocation base for a given cost pool by adding the amount found in the General Ledger table for all account/organization combinations set up as the base of the cost pool. This option is the default allocation base type for all cost pools.

Hours

Select this option to derive the allocation base for a given service center pool by adding the hours charged to the General Ledger for all account/organization combinations that have been set up as the base of the cost pool. After you select this option and save the cost pool, you cannot modify this setting. For information about the calculations for hours-based cost pools, see the "Calculations for Hours-Based Cost Pools" topic.

Warning: Do not include allocation accounts from other cost pools or service centers in the base of an hours-based cost pool.
Units

This option becomes available when you select the Service Center check box. If you select this option, you must enter the base units on the Manage Allocation Journal screen. This option offers an alternate selection of allocation base type that can be used for service center pools only. The units entered can represent head count, number of pages, clock time, square footage, percents, and so forth. Enter a description of the base in the Basis Description field. This is a required field.

FS Reclass Debit Acct

Enter, or click to select, a valid account number to be used as the debit side of the Cost Transfer Journal Entry for this pool. When the cost of a project is charged to the performing organization(s) and the revenue is collected by the owning organization, the Create Cost Transfer Journal Entries screen automatically creates a journal entry to reallocate the cost from the performing organization(s) to the owning organization. After you post this journal entry, you can print Income Statements by Org, if you desire.

The FS Reclass Debit Accounts must already be established on the Manage Accounts screen. They must be Detail accounts with Project Required blank. Note that the reclass accounts for the direct costs are entered on the Manage Financial Statements screen. To provide visibility to the reclass process, make the debit and credit accounts unique for each pool. Remember to link the reclass account numbers to the proper organizations and to their respective FS lines when assigning accounts.

FS Reclass Credit Acct

Enter, or click to select, a valid account number. This account number is the credit side of the cost transfer journal entry for this pool.

Subtasks

Subtask Description
Default Accounts Click this link to open the Default Accounts subtask, where you can enter default allocation credit, debit, cost variance and receivable variance account/organization combinations, and reference numbers.
Pool Cost Click this link to enter the Pool Cost subtask, where you can select the account/organization combinations that form the cost portion of the pool. Note that you can also use the Manage Cost Creation Setups screen, in combination with the Create Pool Links screen, to create many new account/organization cost combinations for pools.
Pool Base Click this link to enter the Pool Base subtask, where you can choose the account/organization combinations that form the base, allocation, and variance portions of the pool. Variance account/organization selections made at this level override any default account/organization entries made on the Default Accounts subtask. Note that you can also use the Manage Base Creation Setups screen, in combination with the Create Pool Links screen, to create many new account/organization base combinations for pools.
Service Center Click this link to open the Service Center subtask, where you can set up additional information relating to service center pools. It is available only when you select the Service Center check box.
Pool Rates Click this link to enter the Pool Rates subtask where you can enter both current period and year to date rates for a given pool. You can enter actual, target, billing, and cost of money rates against any pool that is not a service center pool. Service center allocation rates are not stored on the rate table.