Managing Cost Centers with Lano

Overview: Why Cost Centers Matter in Lano?

Cost centers in Lano allow for enhanced tracking and organization of expenses at the employee level. This new feature supports multiple objectives:

1. Enhanced Reporting: Cost center data allows for richer, detailed reports and insights.

2. Client Requests: Clients can now track costs associated with specific teams or projects.

3. Business Intelligence (BI): For payroll and financial reporting, cost centers enable detailed exports and analyses, such as journal entries for accounting.

How Cost Centers Work in Lano

Structure and Logic

Cost centers in Lano are organized as follows:

• Cost Center: A required text field that uniquely identifies each cost center.

• Cost Unit: An optional string to further categorize or break down the cost center.

• Cost Name: An optional text field for descriptive names or labels.

Each combination of a cost center and cost unit must be unique to maintain clarity and prevent duplications.

Key Points:

• An employee (EE) can be assigned to one or more cost centers.

• The cost center field is mandatory, while cost unit and cost name are optional.

Setting Up and Managing Cost Centers

Accessing Cost Centers

Administrators and Managers on the client side can access and manage cost centers through a new Cost Centers tab in the Settings menu.

1. Creating Cost Centers:

   • Access: Admins and Managers can create new cost centers.

   • Empty State: If no cost centers exist, an empty state will prompt users to create a new one.

2. Viewing and Editing:

   • Admins and Managers can view, edit, or delete existing cost centers.

   • Deletion: Cost centers can only be deleted if no employees are assigned to them. A confirmation modal will appear to confirm deletion.

3. Assigning Cost Centers to Employees:

   • Cost centers are displayed in each employee’s profile for both EOR (Employer of Record) and Payroll employees, visible to both the client and Admin.

   • Cost centers can be assigned during the onboarding process and updated at any point, from active employees to terminated employees.

4. Editing and Removing Cost Centers:

   • Admins and Managers can edit or remove cost centers for both active and terminated employees as needed.

Using Cost Centers for Employee Management and Reporting

1. Team Section Filter: A new filter by cost center is available in the Team section to facilitate team or project-based management.

2. Reporting and BI Integration: Cost center data will support custom reports and exports, specifically useful for payroll processing, accounting, and detailed business insights.

Summary

With Lano’s cost center functionality, clients can easily assign, manage, and report on costs associated with specific employees. This feature aligns with both internal reporting needs and client demands, offering flexibility and ease in tracking employee-related expenses.

If you have any questions or need assistance, reach out to our Platform Experience Team at customersuccess@lano.io.