---
id: KB-CD-006
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/credits-and-billing/attributing-cost-across-departments
idioma: en
categoria: creditos
audiencia: administrador
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CD-003, KB-CD-002, KB-CD-018]
citadoPor: [KB-CD-012]
---

# Knowing which department spends what

_To charge it back, or simply so each team sees its own._

**Responde a:** split spend between departments · know how much each team spends · attribute costs by area · consumption report by project

The balance belongs to the organisation, so at month end there is one number and nobody knows where it came from. If you have to charge it back — or simply want each manager to see their own — spend has to be attributable, and that is decided before spending it, not after.

## What makes spend attributable

**En corto**

- That the work sits inside a team, not loose.
- That processes have an owner, not whoever happened to launch them.
- That large sends go out from the right place.

## How to set it up

1. **One team per area with its own budget** — Not by org chart: by who answers for the spend.
2. **Each process inside its team** — A process shared across three areas is spend that cannot be split.
3. **Review the breakdown monthly** — Ten minutes. It is where you spot SMS left on by default in a three-hundred-person process.

> [!WARNING]
> Splitting the organisation into teams for accounting reasons has a real cost: it makes sharing templates and contacts harder. Do it if you genuinely will charge back; if it is curiosity, the per-process breakdown usually suffices.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Charging back has an effect worth anticipating: the area paying starts avoiding the spend. If that means they stop sending SMS to people who do not read email, you will have saved credits and lost deliveries.

> [!NOTE]
> Before building anything, look at the current breakdown. Often 80% of spend comes from a single process, and knowing which one removes the need to split anything.

**Can I cap a team?**

It is controlled by permissions: someone who cannot launch large batches cannot spend in bulk.

**Can it be exported?**

Yes, with its dates, which is what finance needs.

**Who is a third party's usage charged to?**

Whoever launched the send. The third party never pays anything.

## Ejemplos

**A group wants to charge spend back to its three divisions.**

- Looks at the breakdown first
- Finds 78% comes from supplier onboarding, which belongs to purchasing

→ Charges that process to purchasing and avoids splitting the organisation in three.

**Cost is split between departments by eye.**

- Checks real consumption by department

→ The split rests on data.

**A department says they do not spend that much.**

- Shows them their consumption breakdown

→ The conversation closes on the figure.

**You want to know which process consumes most.**

- Checks consumption by activity type

→ Optimisation goes where it matters.

**Spend grows and nobody knows where from.**

- Compares consumption across periods

→ The increase is located.

**Each department asks for more balance without justification.**

- Allocates according to recorded consumption

→ Allocation stops being a negotiation.