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- Cost Accounting
- Data model
The tables behind Cost Accounting
Cost Accounting ships with 17 tables, grouped here by the feature that uses them. Every record your team works with lives in one of them, and you can add fields and tables in Proto.
- Tables
- 17
- Features
- 6, plus shared settings
- Change it
- Add fields and tables in Proto
How the model is organised
Cost context
Organizations owns cost pools and business partners; team members carries finance staff details.
Baseline and actual
Standard cost estimates owns standard cost lines; accounting documents owns document lines.
Difference and ledger
Cost variances can reference both baseline and actual records. Journal entries owns journal lines and belongs to accounting periods.
Review evidence
Review decisions links decision subjects; operation receipts records action outcomes; record attachments retains supporting files.
Every table, by feature
- Cost foundations4
- Standard estimates6
- Actual postings9
- Variance review6
- Cost journals6
- Period oversight5
- Shared and settings1
- Organizations
Cost centre hierarchy that owns every cost pool, cost object and cost journal in the ledger.
- Cost pools
Cost pools that collect overhead and indirect cost before it is allocated and absorbed.
Linked to Organizations - Business partners
Cost objects - jobs, products and contracts - that accumulate standard and actual cost.
Linked to Organizations - Team members
Finance staff who prepare, review and approve finance operations, with their role and approval limit.
Linked to Organizations
- Standard cost estimates
Standard cost built up per cost object, used as the baseline for variance analysis.
Linked to Business partners, Organizations - Standard cost lines
Cost elements, quantities and standard rates that make up a standard cost estimate.
Linked to Standard cost estimates, Ledger accounts - Business partners
Cost objects - jobs, products and contracts - that accumulate standard and actual cost.
Linked to Organizations - Organizations
Cost centre hierarchy that owns every cost pool, cost object and cost journal in the ledger.
- Ledger accounts
Chart of cost ledger accounts used to classify every cost journal line.
- Operation receipts
Evidence that an operation actually ran: who triggered it, when, with what result and where the output lives.
Linked to Team members
- Accounting documents
Actual cost incurred against a cost pool, reviewed, approved and posted to the cost ledger.
Linked to Cost pools, Organizations, Accounting periods - Document lines
Cost elements, quantities and unit rates that make up an actual cost posting.
Linked to Accounting documents, Ledger accounts - Cost pools
Cost pools that collect overhead and indirect cost before it is allocated and absorbed.
Linked to Organizations - Organizations
Cost centre hierarchy that owns every cost pool, cost object and cost journal in the ledger.
- Accounting periods
Costing periods and their close status for cost journal postings.
- Ledger accounts
Chart of cost ledger accounts used to classify every cost journal line.
- Review decisions
Approval trail: who approved, rejected or returned a bill, invoice, payment or journal entry, when and under what conditions.
Linked to Team members, Accounting documents, Standard cost estimates, Cost variances - Operation receipts
Evidence that an operation actually ran: who triggered it, when, with what result and where the output lives.
Linked to Team members - Record attachments
Parent-agnostic evidence files attached to any business record in this app.
Linked to Team members
- Cost variances
Variance between standard and actual cost, posted through to the cost ledger.
Linked to Cost pools, Business partners, Accounting documents, Standard cost estimates - Standard cost estimates
Standard cost built up per cost object, used as the baseline for variance analysis.
Linked to Business partners, Organizations - Accounting documents
Actual cost incurred against a cost pool, reviewed, approved and posted to the cost ledger.
Linked to Cost pools, Organizations, Accounting periods - Cost pools
Cost pools that collect overhead and indirect cost before it is allocated and absorbed.
Linked to Organizations - Business partners
Cost objects - jobs, products and contracts - that accumulate standard and actual cost.
Linked to Organizations - Operation receipts
Evidence that an operation actually ran: who triggered it, when, with what result and where the output lives.
Linked to Team members
- Journal entries
General ledger header balancing debits and credits for a period.
Linked to Accounting periods, Organizations - Journal lines
Debit and credit lines that make up a journal entry.
Linked to Journal entries, Ledger accounts - Ledger accounts
Chart of cost ledger accounts used to classify every cost journal line.
- Accounting periods
Costing periods and their close status for cost journal postings.
- Organizations
Cost centre hierarchy that owns every cost pool, cost object and cost journal in the ledger.
- Operation receipts
Evidence that an operation actually ran: who triggered it, when, with what result and where the output lives.
Linked to Team members
- Accounting periods
Costing periods and their close status for cost journal postings.
- Journal entries
General ledger header balancing debits and credits for a period.
Linked to Accounting periods, Organizations - Journal lines
Debit and credit lines that make up a journal entry.
Linked to Journal entries, Ledger accounts - Cost variances
Variance between standard and actual cost, posted through to the cost ledger.
Linked to Cost pools, Business partners, Accounting documents, Standard cost estimates - Operation receipts
Evidence that an operation actually ran: who triggered it, when, with what result and where the output lives.
Linked to Team members
Keys and references
Use each record number or code as the stable identifier when reconciling imported sources. A document line’s Parent points to its actual posting; a standard line’s Parent points to its estimate. Each journal line points to a journal and ledger account. A variance may link an accounting document and standard cost estimate. Preserve those references when moving data between systems.
Migration order
- Establish ownership. Load Organizations, team members and Users with reviewed identifiers.
- Create context. Load cost pools, business partners, ledger accounts and accounting periods.
- Move transactions. Bring in standard cost estimates and standard cost lines, then accounting documents and document lines.
- Link review. Add cost variances, journal entries, journal lines, review decisions, operation receipts and record attachments after their parents are identifiable.
Set up Cost Accounting your way.
Start free, then use Proto to change fields, steps and approvals before your team goes live.