A cost centre is an organisational unit in a company that produces costs within the scope of its activities. The cost centre can also be units that cover cost areas as an aggregation level, e.g. as a collective object for several, real organisational units.
The purpose of the cost centre is to monitor the costs of a part of a company or organisation. It enables companies to analyse and optimise their expenditure in individual areas. Cost centres can be divided into departments or projects. Monitoring cost centres is important for the continuous monitoring of costs and for building budgets.