A cost code answers two questions at once: what kind of work is this, and which ledger account does it belong to. NamaCor keeps both on the same record so that the crew picks a code and the accountant gets an account.
Three kinds of codes
| Kind | Examples | Where it lands in Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Labour, by role | Labourer, carpenter, crew lead, project manager | A task in Xero Projects (time entries), plus labour cost in NamaCor Finances at the internal rate |
| Materials, by division | 06 Wood and plastics, 09 Finishes | A supplier bill line coded to the purchases account (for example 33510), with the project's tracking option |
| Subcontracts, by division | 22 Plumbing, 26 Electrical | A supplier bill line coded to the subcontractors account (for example 33520), with the project's tracking option |
Two mappings in Settings
- Cost codes to expense accounts: used for supplier bills. Once Xero is connected, the accounts are chosen from a list read from your chart.
- Sales items to revenue accounts: used for customer invoice lines, with a taxable flag per item. Disbursements and their markup have their own accounts.
Rates
Each labour code can carry a charge rate, used when you bill time and materials. Each worker has an internal rate, visible to the owner only, used to cost approved hours. The cost is frozen at approval, so a later rate change never rewrites history.
Budgets
The accepted quote sets the budget per cost code, before taxes. Accepted change orders revise it. Finances compares budget and actual by code and by category, and the projected margin counts, for each code, the greater of budget and actual.
Start from the seeded structure and change the account numbers to yours. Fewer, clearer codes beat a long list nobody uses on site.