Table of Contents
- What does a cost center show in SAP?
- How do you display a cost center in SAP?
- How does a cost center map to a Turkish chart-of-accounts code?
- Which cost center mapping mistakes are most common?
- How does it work in Masraff?
- Frequently asked questions
- Which transaction code displays a cost center in SAP?
- Is "masraf yeri" the same as a cost center?
- How is one expense distributed across several cost centers?
- Which Turkish chart-of-accounts code does a cost center map to?
In a company that runs SAP, an employee expense is not really closed until it lands on the right cost center. The receipt is approved and the money is paid back, but if the cost goes to the wrong department's cost center, the budget report, departmental profitability and month-end reconciliation all drift. This article is for finance and accounting teams in Turkey. It explains how to display a cost center in SAP, which rules tie an expense to a cost center and to an expense account in the Turkish Uniform Chart of Accounts (Tekdüzen Hesap Planı), and the mapping mistakes that come up most often.
What does a cost center show in SAP?
In SAP, a cost center is the controlling (CO) object that shows which unit of the company incurred a cost. The Turkish SAP interface calls it "masraf yeri".
The expense account answers "what was spent"; the cost center answers "where it was spent". The same parking receipt goes to the sales cost center if it comes from the sales team and to the administration cost center if it comes from head office. Cost centers belong to a controlling area; they are assigned to a company code, in most setups to a profit center, and they are valid for a defined date range.
When a posting hits an expense account, SAP usually requires an account assignment object: a cost center, an internal order or a WBS element. So if the cost center is missing when employee expenses are transferred to SAP, the posting is either rejected or falls onto a default cost center.
How do you display a cost center in SAP?
In SAP, a single cost center is displayed with transaction code KS03; to list several cost centers, use the KS13 report.
These are the transaction codes used most often in SAP GUI and S/4HANA (source: SAP Help Portal, Cost Center Accounting documentation):
| Transaction code | What it does |
|---|---|
| KS03 | Displays the master data of one cost center: name, person responsible, company code, profit center, validity dates |
| KS13 | Lists cost centers (master data report) |
| KSH3 | Displays a cost center group |
| OKEON | Shows the standard hierarchy, the full cost center tree |
| KSB1 | Lists actual line items posted to a cost center |
| KS01 / KS02 | Creates / changes a cost center (requires authorization) |
In S/4HANA, the same information is also available in the Fiori app "Manage Cost Centers". If you lack display access, asking your SAP authorization team for read access to KS03 and KSB1 is usually enough for the accounting team's day-to-day checks.
How does a cost center map to a Turkish chart-of-accounts code?
In Turkey, companies using option 7/A of the Uniform Chart of Accounts map each cost center to one of the expense accounts 730–770, based on the function of the cost.
The Uniform Chart of Accounts was set by the General Communiqué on the Accounting System (Muhasebe Sistemi Uygulama Genel Tebliği, No. 1, Official Gazette of 26.12.1992) and has applied since 01.01.1994. Option 7/A classifies expenses by function. In SAP installations in Turkey, the Tekdüzen accounts are either the operating chart of accounts itself or are kept as a country chart of accounts alongside the group chart.
The mapping below is an example; cost center codes and sub-accounts differ from company to company:
| Cost center (example) | Unit | 7/A expense account |
|---|---|---|
| URT-100 | Production maintenance | 730 General production overheads |
| HZM-200 | Field service | 740 Cost of services produced |
| ARG-300 | R&D | 750 Research and development expenses |
| SAT-400 | Sales | 760 Marketing, sales and distribution expenses |
| YON-500 | Head office | 770 General administrative expenses |
Sample entry. An employee from the sales team brings in a parking receipt of TRY 1,200 including 20% VAT (example):
| Account | Debit | Credit | Cost center |
|---|---|---|---|
| 760 Marketing, sales and distribution expenses | TRY 1,000 | SAT-400 | |
| 191 Deductible VAT | TRY 200 | — | |
| 195 / 320 Employee account | TRY 1,200 | — |
The cost center travels only on the expense line. VAT and the employee account are balance sheet accounts, and SAP does not expect a cost center on them. Whether the employee side uses 195 or 320 depends on how your company tracks employee reimbursements. Confirm the account choice and your 7/A or 7/B option with your financial advisor (mali müşavir).
Which cost center mapping mistakes are most common?
Most cost center mapping errors happen because the master data in SAP is not kept in sync with the system where expenses are entered. Go through this list before each transfer:
- Expired cost center: a posting to a closed cost center is rejected. Closed cost centers should also be deactivated in the expense system.
- Cost center locked for actual postings: if the lock indicators are set in KS03, the posting is not accepted. Locks are set on purpose for planning-only cost centers.
- Company code mismatch: company A's cost center cannot be used on company B's posting. In multi-company groups, the cost center list should be filtered by company.
- Department change: if an employee moves to another unit and the default cost center is not updated, costs keep going to the old unit.
- Shared costs: a cost that serves several units but is booked to one cost center distorts every unit's cost.
- Default account assignment: the default cost center in OKB9 can quietly collect lines that arrive without one. Check that cost center every month with KSB1.
How does it work in Masraff?
In Masraff, the cost center is held in the Cost Center field on the expense entry; defining its values with the same codes as your SAP cost center list makes matching on the SAP side easier.
- The Expense Policy Engine can set rules by cost center. For example, when a certain cost center is selected, a tag becomes mandatory, or a warning appears for an expense that breaks the rule.
- With the Split module, the employee splits a single expense manually across several cost centers during entry (Allocation / Easy Split).
- With the Composite Split module, a rule is defined once. For example, all expenses that arrive on one cost center are distributed 10%, 10% and 80% to three cost centers. It is a setup often requested for teams that serve the whole company.
- Detailed VAT Determination sets three accounts for each receipt: the 7xx expense account, the 191 VAT account and the 195/320 employee account. The expense account comes from Table-Based Account Determination or Detailed Account Determination. SAP-specific KKEG (non-deductible expense) scenarios are defined in the same structure.
Masraff's integration adapter for SAP S/4HANA Cloud is live in production; details are on the SAP S/4HANA Cloud integration page. Teams on SAP ERP will find information on the Masraff SAP ERP integration page. Masraff integrates with more than 20 ERP and accounting systems. Agree with your SAP team during setup on which fields are carried into SAP.
For the overall picture of expenses in SAP, see the SAP expense management guide; for the setup steps, read the Masraff and SAP integration article.
Frequently asked questions
Which transaction code displays a cost center in SAP?
A single cost center is displayed with KS03. Use KS13 for a list, KSH3 for a group and OKEON for the whole hierarchy. To see the line items posted to a cost center, open the KSB1 report.
Is "masraf yeri" the same as a cost center?
Yes. The concept that appears as "masraf yeri" in SAP's Turkish interface is the same as "cost center" in the English interface. Some companies in Turkey also say "masraf merkezi" or "maliyet merkezi" in everyday use.
How is one expense distributed across several cost centers?
The expense is split by percentages at entry or by a defined allocation rule and booked to several cost centers. On the SAP side, a separate expense line is usually created for each cost center. Check that the total equals the original amount.
Which Turkish chart-of-accounts code does a cost center map to?
For companies in Turkey using option 7/A, the function of the cost center decides: 730 for production, 740 for services, 750 for R&D, 760 for sales and 770 for administration. Confirm your own chart with your financial advisor.