What's the purpose of the Cost Center field in a user's record? How is different from a department?

[Smith Johnson]

Hello all,

I would like to understand what's the purpose of the Cost Center field in a user's record.
Could you please describe with simple terms (maybe also with an example), what a Cost Center is and how is related to a user? In addition, what's the difference with a department?

For example:

Unfortunately, documentation does not help me in this case. As it's getting confusing for me, it would be great if you could share your experience on this topic 🙂

Thank you,
Smith.

[Jitendra Diwak1]

Hi @Smith Johnson,

The Cost Center field in a user's record typically designates the financial unit responsible for the user's expenses. It's used for budgeting, tracking costs, and allocating expenses. A department, on the other hand, usually refers to a functional unit within an organization responsible for specific tasks or functions. While they can overlap, the Cost Center is more about financial management, whereas the department focuses on organizational structure and operations.

Please accept my solution if it resolves your query and thumps up. 

Thanks 

Jitendra 

[Dan Covic2]

Cost Centers in ServiceNow - a great tutorial on cost center with good examples