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Cost Centres and Hierarchy

This section sets out the general principles underlying the cost centre hierarchy and the standard cost centres that are created within every unit.

The cost centre hierarchy that is used for Outturns reporting is called the R (Responsibility) hierarchy and is organised as set out below. Other cost centre hierarchies (e.g. to support published financial statements) exist but are generally not of interest to Finance Managers

Standard Levels in Hierarchy

Level Sample Code Description
3 CU

College level. Each College and V-P is represented by an entry at Level 3. Usually a 2 letter code such as CU (for the College of Science) is used. Most of these codes begin with the letter C, but more recent codes atart with D.

It is not possible to post directly to a Level 3 unit.
6 S006

School level. Each School or Support Unit is represented at level 6. Codes begin with the letter 'S' and are followed by 3 numbers.

It is not possible to post directly to a Level 6 unit. Every Level 6 unit must be within (ie roll up to) a Level 3 unit.
9 1234

Postable cost centres are all created at the bottom of the hierarchy, at level 9. They are assigned 4 digit codes.

Every Level 9 cost centre must be within (ie roll up to) a Level 6 unit.

The above levels are the critical levels of the hierarchy. They are replicated on other administrative systems e.g. Core and Banner so that we can report in a consistent way across the units, where applicable (e.g. there is no need for Level 9 cost centres on Banner).

Other Levels

Intermediate levels - e.g. Level 7 and Level 8 - do exist on eFinancials but are not used in a fully standard way and are omitted from most reports.

Projects

Project or Job Codes - principally R, V and D Accounts (Research, Vattable, Departmental projects respectively) - are associated with a specific cost centre.

Core Units, Ancillaries and Subsidiaries

The vast majority of units in the university are part of the core activities and are coded as described above. However we also have ancillary and subsidiary units and an extended coding system is used. Most of these units are central units, but some colleges and -P areas do have a small number of such units.

Ancillary and Subsidiary units are generally created in the financial hierarchy at level 3 and level 6 with a suffix of -N for aNcillary or -S for Subsidiary. In such cases the core unit is given a suffix of -C. Postable cost centres do not have a suffix.

Example

S083 is the Commercial Office. S083-N is the unit code for ancillaries in the Commercial Office, S083-S is the unit for subsidiaries and S083-C is the unit for core cost centres.

Cost Centres in a Unit (i.e. within an 'S' code)

Several cost centres are typically created in most units (there may be some exceptions for particular reasons). The unit amounts (ie the totals for the 'S' code) are the sum of all of the cost centres.

Cost Centre Code Purpose
Q - Quarterly Adjustments Same as 'S' code, but starting with Q not S.

Adjustments at Quarter end which relate to the full unit.

If the operating budgets for all of the other cost centres don't match the overall unit budget, balancing adjustments are created against the Q cost centre so that the total of all cost centre operating budgets for te unit equals the approved budget for the unit.
Y - Year-end Adjustments Same as 'S' code, but starting with Y not S.

Adjustments and other entries at Year-end that relate to the full unit.
Research Projects code varies

Designated cost centre to which all Research Accounts are linked.
Research Support code varies

SOF/VC to supply description
Fee Related Expenditure code varies

Designated cost centre to which Fee-Related Expenditure is normally coded. Scholarships coded against this cost centre are automatically re-allocated based on Student FTEs as part of the November and February Census processing.

 There may by convention be other cost centres within units, but they reflect local convention moreso than being reflected across-the-board.

Units in a College (i.e. Level 6 units within a Level 3 unit)
School/Unit Code Purpose
Schools & Units Vary, start with 'S'.

The basic formal operating unit in our hierarchy - the set of units is relatively stable and changes are typically made as part of a fundamental review of (some part of) our activities.

The term 'school' is often used to mean a school or an administrative or support unit at the same level in the herarchy.

Each college or V-P area typically has multiple operating units.
Admin Unit Vary, start with 'S'

Typically there is a single operating unit which acts as the main administrative unit for a college or V-P area.

In a college, the Admin Unit has probably been formed as a replacement for a College Office, Programme Office and Graduate School.

In a V-P's area, the Admin Unit typically represents the office of the V-P but this is not always the case. In some cases there is no designated Admin unit. E.g. the Bursar operates within the Finance Office, not via a unit separate from Finance and from Estate Services.
Allocation Unit Vary, start with 'S'

Each college or V-P area has an Allocation Unit.

These units were created during 2020 to record accounting transactions that relate to the full entity, not to any of the individual units. They are not operating units - no staffing or regular nonpay costs are charged to the unit. The Allocation Units are used to report and hold the 'college share' of Performance Based funding and for the college-level vacancy savings accounting.

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