Process index · third axis
Cost control
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Cost control in teamspace
Keep costs and margin under control – not through software, but in layers: from goal and core question through measurable metrics to modelling in the tool. With maturity levels, a stocktake and the recommended path through teamspace.
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Key figures & metrics
Key figures for cost control
The most important cost metrics along the three perspectives margin, early warning and documents – what they say and whether and how teamspace delivers them.
The key steps
The recommended path through the process – step by step.
- 1
Cost plan & rates
Set up cost rates, commissions & ad-hoc reports
The three adjustments outside the Controlling module: the internal cost rate in the HR portal, commission rates per category and automatic ad-hoc dispatch.
- 2
Capture expenditure
Record expenses & material
Create an expense receipt, expense invoice and material – step by step, with payment method, gross/net logic and the link to the trip.
- 3
Review & approve
Incoming documents: purchase orders, expenses & incoming letters
Manage purchase orders, incoming invoices and incoming letters – including creating an incoming invoice from an email, reviewing it, approving it and recording the outgoing payment.
- 4
Planned/actual
Project reports
Project times, Project time analysis and Project analysis – what has been worked on in projects and how they stand financially.
- 5
Contribution margin & traffic light
Project controlling methods
The mental model behind the figures: planned/actual comparison, earned value analysis, the traffic-light method, milestone trend analysis and contribution margin – and how teamspace implements them.
- 6
Forecast & correct
Financial reports
Finance analysis, Invoicing analysis, Invoice line items, Future revenue, Post-calculation as well as Cost analysis and Cost items – what comes in and goes out.
All articles for this process (43)
Understand
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Introduction to controlling
leadWhat the Controlling module analyses, where the reports sit and how every report is operated on the same principle.
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Introduction to cost accounting
What cost accounting (KLR) is, why service providers need it differently from manufacturing, and how teamspace turns times, costs, documents and postings into cost centres, cost objects and contribution margins.
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Introduction to costs & travel expenses
How the Costs module is built: individual documents, three accounts per cost element, bundles for trips and months – and who records, reviews and bills.
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Contribution margin I and II by project, customer and area
How teamspace calculates contribution margin I (CM1) from times, costs and documents, how repostings and allocations turn it into CM2 and how you evaluate it by project, customer and area.
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Cost, expense, expenditure: cost accounting vs. financial accounting
Cash outflow, expenditure, expense and cost explained using a company car – and why cost accounting works with differently valued and imputed costs that do not appear in financial accounting.
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Reposting, allocation or correction? Choosing the right way
When to correct an amount in the original, when to repost it and when an allocation rule does the work – with seven typical practical cases and the direct and step-down allocation methods.
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Two views, one result: the core principle of cost accounting
Why every posting carries a cost centre and a cost object, why both totals must always show the true result and why cross-postings from a cost centre to a cost object count twice.
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Cost centres and cost objects: types and structure
Final, service and salary cost centres, final and intermediate cost objects, the cost centre tree, the owner cost centre and the target project – what each type is for and where it may allocate to.
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Cost control: contribution margin, recharging & cost accounting
Why every cost element carries three accounts – and what that means for contribution margin, customer billing, employee satisfaction and controlling.
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Understanding cost elements: three accounts & lifecycle
The mental model behind every cost element: three accounts (project, customer, employee), the status lifecycle and how the detail manager is built.
How-tos
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Create expenses & documents via the API
Create documents such as expenses, incoming invoices or mileage via the API – including how to find the expense category ID and the logic behind the billable fields.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Employee reports
Working time analysis, Working days and Capacity analysis as well as Employee data, Employee analysis, Commissions and Leave – working time, utilisation and the contribution of employees.
Modules: HR-Software, Zeiterfassung
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Financial reports
leadFinance analysis, Invoicing analysis, Invoice line items, Future revenue, Post-calculation as well as Cost analysis and Cost items – what comes in and goes out.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Other reports
The Area/category analysis as a five-dimensional pivot analysis and the Ad-hoc report as automatic email dispatch.
Modules: Zeiterfassung, Querschnitt
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Project reports
leadProject times, Project time analysis and Project analysis – what has been worked on in projects and how they stand financially.
Modules: Projektmanagement, Zeiterfassung
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Ticket reports
Ticket report and Ticket analysis – list all tickets in four views and analyse them by assignee, customer or project.
Modules: Service Desk
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Working with reports: filter and export
The shared operating concept of all Controlling reports: quick filters, the filter modal, Split/Aggregate/Show, report settings, drill-down, export and bookmarks.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware, Projektmanagement
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Incoming documents: purchase orders, expenses & incoming letters
Manage purchase orders, incoming invoices and incoming letters – including creating an incoming invoice from an email, reviewing it, approving it and recording the outgoing payment.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Meal allowances
Meal allowances as a separate cost element — create templates with the correct country rates, check and approve submitted allowances, and understand meal deductions (B/L/D).
Modules: HR-Software, Rechnungssoftware
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Check and override cost accounting fields when recording
The "Cost accounting" section in project time, expense receipt, line item and general posting: where the rule value comes from, when you override it and how "Reset" works.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware, Zeiterfassung
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Enter a plan and compare it with actuals
In the "Plan & analysis" tab you plan revenue and costs per month for every cost centre and cost object and compare them with actuals – monthly, cumulatively and as a variance.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Cost centres, cost objects and cost categories in the detail manager
The lists and tiles in the Finance menu and the tabs Overview, Master data, Movements, Allocation rule, Plan & analysis, Projects and Department – how to read what happens on a cost centre or cost object.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Repost an amount
Repost a single amount from one cost centre to another or from one cost object to another – with a cost category for source and target, a description and the practical cases of a trip for two customers and a margin share.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Work with the cost accounting analysis
The cost accounting analysis (formerly "internal cost analysis") shows totals by cost centre, cost object or cost category with CM1, secondary costs and CM2 – in total and by quarter. How to compare areas, check both views and filter lists by cost accounting fields.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Collective statement & month-end closing
The free bundle (shoebox) and the month-end closing: bill documents without a trip context, close a month and generate supplements automatically.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Create cost elements from e-invoices
E-invoice as a PDF in, values out automatically: create an expense receipt or an expense invoice in one step – including the incoming-invoices list and the DATEV interface.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Create a travel expense report
Bill a business trip: create the trip, generate meal allowances automatically, bundle documents, release for review and reimburse via employee payroll.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Recharge costs to customers
leadThe four price sources (cost element, manual, price list, order), the order as a hub, collective pots and the cost statement on the invoice.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Record expenses & material
Create an expense receipt, expense invoice and material – step by step, with payment method, gross/net logic and the link to the trip.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
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Trigger a purchase order from an order
Link a sales article with a purchase article, create the purchase order from the order and calculate the gross profit from the purchase price.
Modules: Rechnungssoftware
Set up & manage
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Set up cost rates, commissions & ad-hoc reports
The three adjustments outside the Controlling module: the internal cost rate in the HR portal, commission rates per category and automatic ad-hoc dispatch.
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Permissions for cost accounting
The rights in the "Cost accounting" accordion: cost accounting clerk, view, edit, repost and allocate, details, set and hide cost accounting elements – with the options per object type and sample roles.
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Define rules for default values
How teamspace pre-fills cost category, cost centre and cost object by rule when you record: the order of sources per area (project times, costs, line item, postings) and where employee, project, customer, category, cost type and article get their values from.
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Allocate personnel costs via a salary cost centre
With a salary cost centre, the department sees the real salary, the projects bear hours plus a share of the remainder, and the remainder reveals holidays, sickness and idle time – step-by-step setup with an example.
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Set up an allocation rule
Distribute overheads automatically: in the "Allocation rule" tab you define when, how and where a service cost centre, an intermediate cost object or a salary cost centre is allocated – with step-down, IT allocation by headcount and a server pool.
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Set up cost accounting: create cost categories, cost centres and cost objects
The basic setup of cost accounting in seven steps: settings and the cross-posting switch, cost categories, cost centre tree, cost objects, field visibility, rules and rights.
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Generate flat rates automatically with rules
Rule-based billing items: a travel flat rate per on-site day, a travel flat rate via a time collector and a hotel allowance from six hours – generated automatically from booked times.
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Set up cost types, supplements & document templates
The admin setup of the Costs module: cost types with their switches, document templates for incoming invoices, supplement rules, payout rates and cost accounting.