Cost Centers & Stockrooms

Cost Centers and Stockrooms provide the financial and physical dimensions of asset management. Cost Centers track who pays for assets, while Stockrooms track where spare and in-stock assets are physically stored.

Cost Centers

What are Cost Centers?

Cost Centers represent the financial units within your organization that are responsible for IT asset costs. They enable you to:

• Allocate IT costs to the correct department or project
• Track budgets against actual asset spending
• Report on IT expenditure by business unit
• Support chargeback and showback models

Accessing Cost Center Management

1. Navigate to Settings in the main navigation
2. Select Cost Centers from the settings menu
3. The Cost Center List displays all configured cost centers

Creating a Cost Center

Field	Required	Description
Name	Yes	Name of the cost center (e.g., "IT Operations", "Marketing")
Code	No	Short identifier, automatically uppercased (e.g., "IT-OPS")
Description	No	Additional context about the cost center's purpose
Company	No	The company this cost center belongs to
Parent	No	Parent cost center for hierarchical structures
Manager	No	User responsible for this cost center
Type	Yes	Classification: Department, Project, Division, Team, or Other
Status	Yes	Current status: Active, Inactive, or Archived

Budget Tracking

Each cost center can include budget information:

Field	Description
Annual Budget	The annual IT budget allocation for this cost center
Currency	Currency code (e.g., USD, EUR, GBP)

Cost Center Hierarchy

Cost centers support a hierarchical tree structure:

IT Division (Level 0)
  ├── IT Operations (Level 1)
  │   ├── Infrastructure Team (Level 2)
  │   └── Help Desk Team (Level 2)
  ├── IT Development (Level 1)
  │   ├── Frontend Team (Level 2)
  │   └── Backend Team (Level 2)
  └── IT Security (Level 1)

The hierarchy level is automatically calculated when you assign a parent cost center.

Cost Center Types

Type	Use Case
Department	Standard organizational department
Project	Temporary project-based cost allocation
Division	Major business division
Team	Individual team within a department
Other	Custom classification

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Stockrooms

What are Stockrooms?

Stockrooms represent physical storage locations where IT assets are kept when not deployed. They are essential for:

• Inventory management of spare and reserve equipment
• Tracking assets in stock before deployment
• Managing hardware refresh staging areas
• Capacity planning for storage facilities

Accessing Stockroom Management

1. Navigate to Settings in the main navigation
2. Select Stockrooms from the settings menu
3. The Stockroom List displays all configured stockrooms

Creating a Stockroom

Field	Required	Description
Name	Yes	Name of the stockroom (e.g., "Main IT Warehouse", "Server Room B")
Code	No	Short identifier, automatically uppercased (e.g., "WH-MAIN")
Description	No	Additional details about the stockroom
Site	No	Physical site where this stockroom is located
Cost Center	No	Cost center responsible for this stockroom
Parent	No	Parent stockroom for nested storage areas
Responsible	No	User managing this stockroom
Type	Yes	Classification of the storage area
Status	Yes	Current operational status

Stockroom Types

Type	Use Case
Warehouse	Large storage facility for bulk inventory
Storage Room	General-purpose storage within a building
Server Room	Dedicated server and network equipment storage
Supply Closet	Small storage for peripherals and accessories
Secure Storage	Locked or access-controlled storage area
Other	Custom storage classification

Stockroom Status

Status	Description
Active	Open and accepting inventory
Inactive	Temporarily not in use
Maintenance	Undergoing reorganization or repairs
Full	At maximum capacity, no new items

Physical Location Details

For precise asset location within a stockroom, you can specify:

Field	Description
Building	Building name or number
Floor	Floor level
Room	Room number or name
Aisle	Aisle designation
Rack	Rack or shelf identifier

Capacity Tracking

Track how full each stockroom is:

Field	Description
Max Items	Maximum number of items the stockroom can hold
Current Items	Current count of items stored
Unit	Unit of measurement (items, rack units, etc.)

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Assigning Assets to Cost Centers and Stockrooms

When editing a Configuration Item, the Asset section provides dropdowns for both:

1. Open the CI in the CMDB
2. In the Asset section:
   • Select a Cost Center for budget allocation
   • Select a Stockroom if the asset is in storage
3. Save the changes

Using Stockrooms with CI Status

Stockrooms work naturally with CI lifecycle statuses:

CI Status	Stockroom Usage
In Stock	Asset is physically in the stockroom awaiting deployment
Reserved	Asset is in the stockroom but reserved for a specific purpose
In Transit	Asset is being moved between stockrooms or to a deployment location
Active/Deployed	Asset is deployed - stockroom should be cleared

Stockroom Reports

NopeSight includes several built-in reports for stockroom management:

Devices In Stock

A table listing all Configuration Items currently assigned to a stockroom, showing device name, type, status, and assigned stockroom.

Devices by Stockroom

A bar chart showing the count of devices in each stockroom, giving a quick overview of inventory distribution.

CI Types by Stockroom

A detailed table breaking down the types of CIs (servers, workstations, etc.) stored in each stockroom.

Device Status by Stockroom

A stacked bar chart showing the status distribution (in stock, reserved, pending, etc.) within each stockroom.

Device Age by Stockroom

A table showing the average age of devices in each stockroom, helping identify aging inventory that may need refresh or disposal.

To access these reports, navigate to Reports and look under the Stockroom category.

The Asset Ownership Chain

Together, Companies, Cost Centers, Sites, and Stockrooms form a complete asset ownership and location chain:

Entity	Answers	Example
Company	Who owns it?	Acme Corp
Cost Center	Who pays for it?	IT Operations
Site	Where is it located?	New York HQ
Stockroom	Where is it stored?	IT Warehouse - Rack A3

This structure supports:

• Financial reporting by company and cost center
• Physical audits by site and stockroom
• Compliance by mapping assets to responsible entities
• Lifecycle management by tracking assets from stock to deployment to retirement

Best Practices

Cost Center Management

1. Mirror your org chart: Align cost centers with your organizational hierarchy
2. Use meaningful codes: IT-OPS, MKT-DIG, FIN-ACC for quick identification
3. Assign managers: Every cost center should have an accountable person
4. Review quarterly: Ensure cost center assignments are still accurate

Stockroom Management

1. Name by location: Include building and room in the name
2. Track capacity: Set max items to get alerts before stockrooms overflow
3. Assign responsible persons: Every stockroom needs a point of contact
4. Regular audits: Reconcile physical inventory with system records
5. Use status wisely: Mark full stockrooms to redirect new inventory

Related Topics

• Company Management - Organizational entity management
• Site Management - Physical location tracking
• Lifecycle Management - Asset status tracking
• Device Aging - Age tracking and reports