When implementing and using Oracle HRMS, you make selections from the lists in the Cost Allocation flexfield segments as follows:
When defining a payroll, you can select a code for the company or ledger holding the labor costs from the payroll.
When linking an element representing an earnings type such as Regular Salary, a deduction such as Union Dues, or an employer charge such as a benefit plan contribution, you select a GL code that the element's results should debit or credit, and a code for the balancing GL account to credit or debit.
Note: As well as making entries to the Cost Allocation flexfield at the element link level, you also enter on each link, essential information about the type of costing the system should do for the link. Available types include Costed, Fixed Costed, and Distributed.
When defining an internal organization or entering an employee assignment, you can select codes for the cost centers, product lines, or other structures for which to collect the labor costs of the organization or assignment.
When entering timecard data in Oracle Payroll, you can select codes for accounts, cost centers, product lines, and other items listed in the flexfield segments to show how to collect labor costs for particular hours worked.
The different points at which you can make entries to segments of the Cost Allocation flexfield exist as related entry levels. Ranging from top to bottom, the five entry levels are shown in the table below.
See: Oracle HRMS Cost Allocation Key Flexfield Example
The following table describes the cost allocation entry levels:
| Entry Level | Windows | Purpose of Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | Payroll | Identifies company or ledger to which all costs from this payroll should go. |
| Link | Element Link | Identifies a GL account to debit and a balancing account to credit, or for deductions, an account to credit and a balancing account to debit. Other entries can identify any other accounts into which run results of the element should go. |
| Organization | Organization | Identifies structures such as cost centers against which to charge the payroll costs of employees in the organization. |
| Assignment | Assignment Costing | Identifies structures such as cost centers and product lines against which to regularly charge payroll costs of this assignment. |
| Element Entry | Element Entries Batch Lines | Identifies structures such as cost centers and product lines against which to charge payroll costs of an employee assignment for a period. Entries often taken from timecards. |
Attention: You enable a qualifier for each segment of your Cost Allocation flexfield to control whether it appears at a given entry level. For example, for the Cost Center segment of your flexfield, which receives entries only at the organization, assignment and element entry levels, you enable the Organization, Assignment and Element Entry qualifiers. This segment then appears only at these levels.
A key feature of the Cost Allocation flexfield is that entries made to its segments at lower levels override any entries at higher levels. Thus, entries from timecards made in a particular segment at the Element Entry level override any entries to this segment made at the employee assignment, organization, link and payroll levels.
This helps to keep your costing information accurate. For example, if employees temporarily work at cost centers or on product lines different from those entered for their organizations or assignments, they can enter the cost center or product line codes together with their time worked on their timecards. On receipt of this costing information at the element entry level, the system correctly charges their time for the period, using this information rather than any entered at the organization or assignment levels.