# Cost centres and cost units in Exact Online | Glimps > What cost centres and cost units are, how to set them up in Exact Online, split an invoice and report per cost centre. With menu paths. Source: https://useglimps.com/en/blog/kostenplaatsen-kostendragers-exact-online | Language: en | Updated: 2026-09-24 This Markdown file is the plain-text twin of the page above, generated at build time from the same render. --- Wouter MurmansFounder of Glimps 24 September 2026 8 min read In Exact Online a cost centre is a department, function, activity or item of equipment for which you collect costs and revenue. A cost unit is a further subdivision, such as a team within a department, but Exact does not link the two, so you can also use them independently. You create them under Financial > Analysis & Results and put them on each line of a purchase invoice, so you can report per cost centre or cost unit. This guide covers the difference, the setup in Exact Online, splitting one invoice over several cost centres and common mistakes. I checked all Exact menu paths and features in the Exact knowledge base on 24 September 2026. The sources are at the bottom. The Dutch interface labels are in brackets where they help. ## What is the difference between a cost centre and a cost unit? The G/L account says _what_ you bought: office supplies, rent, software. The cost centre (kostenplaats) says _where_ the cost belongs: sales, the workshop, the eastern branch. So you see not only what you spend on software, but also which department spends it. A cost unit (kostendrager) goes one level deeper. Exact's own examples: the accountancy team within the head office cost centre, or a regional office within a country cost centre. But in Exact Online the two are not tied together. You can use cost units for something else entirely, or use only cost centres. | Topic | Cost centre | Cost unit | | --- | --- | --- | | What it is according to Exact | A production or service location, function, activity or item of equipment for which you collect costs and revenue | A subdivision of a cost centre, for example a team or regional office | | Linked to the other? | No, usable on its own | No, usable on its own | | Create | Financial > Analysis & Results > Cost centres > Overview | Financial > Analysis & Results > Cost units > Overview | | Mandatory or default per G/L account | Yes, in the Cost analysis section | Yes, in the Cost analysis section | | Reporting | Transactions, Results and Analytical values | Transactions and Results; also in Analytical values as the third level | Cost centres and cost units are part of [GL coding](https://useglimps.com/en/begrippen/grootboekcodering): assigning G/L account, VAT code and optionally a cost centre to an invoice or invoice line. You find more terms in the [glossary](https://useglimps.com/en/begrippen). ## Step by step: how to set it up in Exact Online ### Step 1. Make sure you have the right role To add, edit or delete cost centres or cost units, you need the **Maintain cost analysis master data** role (Stamgegevens kostenanalyse beheren). No buttons? That is usually why. ### Step 2. Create your cost centres and cost units Go to **Financial > Analysis & Results > Cost centres > Overview** and click **New**. Enter a **Code** and a **Description** and click **Save + New** to create the next one straight away. For cost units you do the same under **Financial > Analysis & Results > Cost units > Overview**. Choose a logical code scheme, for example 100 for sales and 110 and 120 for the teams under it. Analysis & Results > Cost centres > Overview, with a few cost centres in the list and the New button visible. --> ### Step 3. Link them to your G/L accounts This step matters most and is skipped most. Go to **Financial > Entries & G/L Accounts > G/L Accounts > Overview** and click the code of the G/L account. In the **Cost analysis** section you choose one of three options for Cost centre and for Cost unit: - **No:** you do not post a cost centre on this account. - **Optional:** you may choose a cost centre, but you do not have to. - **Mandatory:** an entry on this account must have a cost centre. If you choose Mandatory, you must also choose a default cost centre. With **Add: Link** you set which cost centres belong to this account. In the **Default** field you pick the default value with the magnifying glass. Note: in an entry you can only choose cost centres that are already linked to that G/L account. It also works the other way round, from the cost centre, with **Add: G/L Account**. ### Step 4. Put the column on your entry screen If you see no cost centre column when you post, customise the page. Go to **Financial > Entries & G/L Accounts > Entries > Create**, click the (Entries) hyperlink of the journal, for example your purchase journal, and open an entry. Click the icon and then **Customise**. In the **Lines** section, tick Cost centre or Cost unit and click Save. ### Step 5. Put the cost centre on every invoice line The column is now on every line of your purchase entry. If the G/L account has a default cost centre, Exact fills it in. Otherwise you choose it. Then you can filter reports and G/L transactions by cost centre or cost unit. ## Splitting one invoice over several cost centres An invoice from Voorbeeldleverancier BV with laptops for sales, a screen for the workshop and a licence for finance belongs on three cost centres. In Exact that is three lines in one purchase entry, each with its own amount and cost centre. The catch is the Scanning service. For an invoice with several lines it puts the cumulative amount in the entry proposal, with a separate line per VAT percentage. To post lines separately, Exact says you work by hand or with an entry template. So splitting is your job, line by line. For a fixed split, an entry template helps. Go to **Company name > Master data > Financial > Entry templates** (Administratienaam > Stamgegevens > Financieel > Boekingtemplates), choose the journal and click New. With the calculation method **Relative weight** (Relatief gewicht) you decide in which ratio the total amount is divided over the lines. If you link the template to a supplier, Exact selects it by itself for a new entry for that supplier. Useful for rent that goes over two branches in the same ratio every month. ## Defaults per G/L account or supplier The default I could check in the Exact knowledge base sits on the G/L account: the default cost centre from step 3. I did not find a default cost centre on the supplier card itself in the knowledge base. What you can do per supplier is link an entry template, as above. Only use a default when that account almost always belongs to one department. Otherwise the field is filled, so nobody looks. ## Reporting per cost centre Exact gives you three places under **Financial > Analysis & Results**: - **Cost centres > Transactions** (and Cost units > Transactions): the transactions per cost centre, which you can filter and export to Excel. (Dutch: Kaarten.) - **Cost centres > Results** (and Cost units > Results): an overview of results per cost centre or cost unit. - **Cost centres > Analytical values**: a report in PDF, Excel or Word in which you group up to three levels and choose the G/L accounts, cost centres, cost units and period. Handy trick: in Analytical values choose Cost centre for Level 1 and G/L Account for Level 2, tick Details and generate. One section then shows all transactions _without_ a cost centre: the forgotten lines. To fix a processed entry, open the G/L account, click Transactions in the Monitor section, select the transaction and choose Cost centre or Cost unit from the arrow next to **Correct**. Analysis & Results > Cost centres > Analytical values, with Level 1 on Cost centre, Level 2 on G/L Account and the Details box ticked. --> ## Authorising per cost centre A cost centre often has a budget holder who must authorise the invoice. Exact Online has built-in approval of purchase invoices: you choose from a list of approvers or let the invoice amount decide the approver, and you can have invoices from certain suppliers approved automatically. I did not find choosing an approver based on the cost centre in the knowledge base. How authorising works in Exact is explained in [authorising invoices in Exact Online](https://useglimps.com/en/blog/facturen-fiatteren-exact-online). ## Common mistakes 1. **Cost centre forgotten on some lines.** On an Optional account, Exact simply posts the line without one. Your department report is wrong and nobody notices. Set such accounts to Mandatory and run the overview of transactions without a cost centre every month. 2. **The whole invoice on one cost centre.** Fast, but goods for three departments then land with one budget holder. Split the lines. It costs a minute and saves a discussion every quarter. 3. **Too many cost centres.** Forty cost centres for thirty people means nobody knows which to pick. Start with departments where someone owns a budget. Go finer with cost units later. 4. **Coding the same supplier differently each time.** One month sales, the next general. Your report becomes noise, and any automation that learns from your entries learns the noise too. 5. **Changing the structure mid-year.** Then the first half and the second half use a different split. Exact can recode a cost centre, and all its transactions get the new code. But you cannot delete a cost centre that has transactions. New structure? Preferably per financial year. ## How Glimps does it Glimps only works with Exact Online. Cost centres, projects, G/L accounts and VAT codes come straight from your administration. Glimps reads every line and proposes G/L account, VAT and cost centre per line the way you posted that supplier before, from your own posting history. If Glimps is in doubt about a field, it stays empty. Then Glimps posts the entry in Exact Online itself, as far as you allow per supplier. The invoice from Voorbeeldleverancier BV arrives as three lines with three cost centres, not as one total. Eight checks stop or limit a posting, such as a possible duplicate. Glimps never pays. Rules send an invoice to the right authoriser based on amount, supplier, G/L account or cost centre, so the workshop invoice reaches the workshop's budget holder. How the posting itself works is explained in [posting purchase invoices automatically in Exact Online](https://useglimps.com/en/blog/facturen-automatisch-inboeken-exact-online). You start today. You connect Exact Online yourself and your first invoice is processed within minutes. You try it free for 14 days; the plans are on the [pricing page](https://useglimps.com/en/pricing). Prefer to look around first? Open the [demo](https://useglimps.com/en/demo). Glimps does not support Peppol or UBL. ## Conclusion Setting it up in Exact takes an afternoon. The real work is in splitting invoices with several lines and staying consistent. Keep the structure small, set important accounts to Mandatory, look up the lines without a cost centre every month and change the structure only at the start of a new financial year. ### Wouter Murmans Founder of Glimps Wouter Murmans is the founder of Glimps. He builds Glimps for finance teams that process their purchase invoices in Exact Online, and writes about what goes wrong there in practice and how to fix it. ## Frequently asked questions Short answers to what people ask most. Questions about your situation? ### What is the difference between a cost centre and a cost unit? A cost centre is a department, function, activity or item of equipment for which you collect costs and revenue. A cost unit is a subdivision of it, for example a team within a department or a regional office within a country. In Exact Online they are not linked to each other, so you can also use them independently. ### How do I create a cost centre in Exact Online? Go to Financial > Analysis & Results > Cost centres > Overview, click New, enter a code and description and click Save + New. For cost units you use Cost units > Overview. You need the Maintain cost analysis master data role. ### Can I make a cost centre mandatory in Exact Online? Yes, per G/L account. Open the G/L account and choose Mandatory for Cost centre or Cost unit in the Cost analysis section. You then also have to choose a default cost centre. You can only choose cost centres that are linked to that G/L account. ### How do I split one purchase invoice over several cost centres? You post the invoice with several lines, each with its own amount and its own cost centre. The Exact Scanning service puts an invoice with several lines on a cumulative amount, so you split it yourself or with an entry template using the calculation method Relative weight. ### Why can I not choose a cost centre in an entry? In an entry you can only choose cost centres that are linked to the G/L account of that line. Link the cost centre in the Cost analysis section of the G/L account. If you do not see the column at all, customise the entry screen via Customise and tick Cost centre in the Lines section. ### How do I find entries without a cost centre in Exact Online? Go to Financial > Analysis & Results > Cost centres > Analytical values. Choose Cost centre for Level 1 and G/L Account for Level 2, tick Details and click Generate. One section of the report shows all transactions that are not linked to a cost centre. ### Can I delete or recode a cost centre? You can recode via Recode in the cost centre overview; all transactions then get the new code. You can only delete a cost centre if no transactions are linked to it. ### Does Glimps set the cost centre per invoice line? Yes. Glimps takes your cost centres from Exact Online, reads every line and proposes G/L account, VAT and cost centre per line the way you posted that supplier before. If Glimps is in doubt, the field stays empty. Then Glimps posts in Exact Online as far as you allow per supplier, and authorisation rules can also route by cost centre. **Sources and method ยท checked on 24 September 2026** [Exact kennisbank: Kostenplaatsen en kostendragers](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Concept-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-costcentrec?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Kostenplaatsen en kostendragers aanmaken](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-addcctrt?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Grootboekrekeningen, kostenplaatsen en kostendragers beheren](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-linkglacctt?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Problemen met kostenplaatsen en kostendragers oplossen](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Reference-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-troubleshootingr?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Kostenplaats- en kostendragertransacties bekijken](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-viewtranst?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Resultaten voor kostenplaatsen en kostendragers bekijken en exporteren](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-viewcctrresultst?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Rapporten met analytische waarden genereren](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-costanalysis-fincanal-analyticalvalt?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Kostenplaatsen en kostendragers vernummeren](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-recodecctrt?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Kostenplaatsen en kostendragers verwijderen](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-costanalysis-costcenter-fincctr-delcctrt?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Problemen met de scanservice oplossen](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Reference-general-scanning-service-genscnsrv-scnrecr?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Boekingtemplates | Aanmaken, gebruiken en bewerken](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-financial-template-fintmpl-jourentrytempt?language=nl_NL)[Exact kennisbank: Inkoopfacturen goedkeuren](https://support.exactonline.com/community/s/article/All-All-HNO-Task-purchase-invoices-purch-apprpurchinvt?language=nl_NL)Spot an outdated or inaccurate claim about your product? [Let us know](https://useglimps.com/en/contact) and we will fix it. ## Related articles ### Automatically posting invoices in Exact Online: how to set it up safely How to post purchase invoices automatically in Exact Online: the automatic invoice processing settings with menu paths, the mistakes to avoid and where a tool takes over the work. ### Invoice authorization in Exact Online: setting up approval flows What is fiatteren, and how do you approve purchase invoices in Exact Online? Which edition you need, how to set up an approval flow, what happens to payment and which mistakes to avoid. ### Journals and the purchase journal in Exact Online What a journal and the purchase journal are in Exact Online, when you use more than one purchase journal, how to create one with menu paths and entry numbers, and the mistakes to avoid.