Cost Center Accounting (CO-OM-CCA)

Method of evenly spreading costs that occur at irregular intervals throughout the periods involved.

Controlling (CO) deals with an organizational expense only in part. When such costs are incurred in one period but apply to multiple periods or to the entire year, this leads to unacceptable cost fluctuations from one settlement period to the next that can have effects on prices. Because costs in CO must be posted by period, accrual calculation provides a means of preventing these fluctuations.