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Cost Codes

Learn how to create and manage Cost Codes in Workglue to track services and materials across estimates, timekeeping, and project financial summaries.

Cost Codes define the services and materials your company tracks in Workglue. They appear as line item options when building estimates, as selections employees can choose when logging time on the mobile app, and as categories that roll up into your project financial summaries. Each Cost Code has a type, default cost and price, taxability setting, and flags that control where it appears and how it is reported.

How to access Cost Codes

  1. In the left navigation, select My Account.
  2. Select the Custom Fields tab.
  3. From the Select Category dropdown, choose Cost Codes.

The page displays the Customize Offerings section with the Cost Codes table.

Cost Codes table

The Cost Codes table displays the following columns for each code:

  • Cost Code Name: The name of the service or material.
  • Type: Material or Service.
  • Description: A brief description of the code.
  • Cost: The default cost to your company for this code.
  • Price: The default price charged to the customer for this code.
  • Taxable: Whether this code is taxable by default.
  • Viewable in Timekeeping: Whether employees can select this code when clocking in or out on the mobile app, and whether it appears as an option on the Time Clocks in the web app.
  • Viewable in Estimates: Whether this code appears as a line item option when building estimates.
  • Mark as Equipment: Whether estimate values for this code roll up under Estimated Equipment on the project financial summary.
  • Mark as Subcontract Labor: Whether estimate values for this code roll up under Contracted Subs on the project financial summary.

Cost codes synced with QuickBooks Online display a green QBO tag. These cost codes represent your Products and Services list in QuickBooks Online. If your company uses the QuickBooks Online integration, any changes to QBO-tagged cost codes should be made in QuickBooks Online, not in Workglue. QuickBooks Online sync settings are managed in the Integrations tab. For more information, see QuickBooks Online Integration.

How to add a new Cost Code

  1. Go to the Cost Codes section in Custom Fields.
  2. Select Add New Item at the bottom of the table.
  3. The Add New Cost Code modal opens.
  4. Fill out the fields.
  5. Select Save Cost Code.

Cost Code fields

  • Cost Code Name: Required. The name of the service or material as it will appear in estimates and timekeeping.
  • Type: Required. Select Material or Service.
  • Cost: The default cost to your company. Used in project financial summaries and profitability reporting. Can be overridden on individual estimates.
  • Price: The default price charged to the customer. Used as the starting price when the code is added to an estimate. Can be overridden on individual estimates.
  • Description: Optional. A brief description of the code. Appears on estimates if included.
  • Taxable: Whether this code is taxable by default. Defaults to No. If your company uses the QuickBooks Online integration, taxable codes are treated accordingly in QBO.
  • Viewable in Timekeeping: Controls whether this code appears in mobile clock in/out and Timekeeping selections. Defaults to Yes. Set to No for codes that should only appear on estimates, not in timekeeping.
  • Viewable in Estimates: Controls whether this code appears in web estimate selections. Defaults to Yes. Set to No for codes that should only appear in timekeeping, not on estimates.
  • Mark as Equipment: Marks this cost code as Equipment so estimate values roll up under Estimated Equipment on the project financial summary. Defaults to No.
  • Mark as Subcontract Labor: Marks this cost code as Subcontract Labor so estimate values roll up under Contracted Subs on the project financial summary. Defaults to No.

How to edit a Cost Code

  1. Find the cost code in the table.
  2. Select the row to open the edit view.
  3. Update the fields as needed.
  4. Save your changes.

Editing a cost code's Cost or Price updates the default for new estimates only. Existing estimates that already use the code are not affected.

How to delete a Cost Code

  1. Find the cost code in the table.
  2. Select the red trash icon on the right side of the row.
  3. Confirm the deletion.

Deleting a cost code cannot be undone. If the code is used on existing estimates or time entries, those records will retain the code name, but it will no longer be available as a selection going forward.

Material vs Service

The Type field distinguishes between physical materials and labor or service-based work.

  • Material: A physical item supplied as part of the job, like paint, primer, caulk, or supplies. Material cost codes can be marked as taxable if your jurisdiction taxes materials.
  • Service: Labor or a service performed, like interior painting, surface preparation, or pressure washing. Service cost codes can be marked as taxable if your jurisdiction taxes services.

Setting up both Material and Service cost codes before building estimates gives you cleaner project financial summaries and more accurate profitability reporting. If you mix materials and labor into a single code, you lose the ability to break them out separately in reports.