Financial Plan Automatic Cost Categorization - Configure Cost Categorization

This article explains how to configure Financial Plan Category Fields, which enable automatic cost categorization across OnePlan.

Category Fields provide the foundation that allows costs to be categorized consistently as they move from planning into actuals, including costs imported into the Financial Plan.

What you will accomplish
By the end of this article, you will be able to create and designate a Category Field and apply governance controls that enable automatic cost categorization across OnePlan.

Requirements

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A OnePlan account with Administrator permissions
• Access to Financial Plan configuration
• The Financial Importer function enabled in your environment

Important
The Financial Importer function must be enabled for automatic cost categorization to apply during import.
Contact your OnePlan representative to activate this feature.

Background

In OnePlan, automatic cost categorization is driven by a single designated Category Field.

This field stores a classification value (for example, CapEx or OpEx) that is associated with financial values and preserved as those values move across OnePlan modules.

Category Fields:

• Enable classification consistency
• Support governed planning and actuals
• Do not define financial structure or rollups

Important
Category Fields are independent of Financial Plan Cost Categories, which are used only to structure and group values within the Financial Plan.

For a detailed explanation of how categorization values are selected and applied during import, see
Automatic Cost Categorization – How Cost Categorization Works in OnePlan.

Instructions

Create a Financial Plan Category Field

1. Go to Configuration → Financial Plan → Fields.
2. Under Custom Fields, select New.
3. Enter a clear, descriptive Field Name
   (for example, CapEx / OpEx or Cost Classification).
4. Set Field Type to Choice.
5. Add the required choice values. These values will serve as your cost categorizations.
6. Save the field.

Designate the Category Field

1. In Configuration → Financial Plan → Fields, locate the Cost Categorization section.
2. Select the custom field you created from the Category Field dropdown.
3. Confirm the change if prompted.

Important
OnePlan supports one Category Field at a time.
Changing the designated Category Field affects cost categorization across all modules.

Where the Category Field Is Available

Once designated, the Category Field becomes available in the:

• Work Plan
• Resource Plan
• Resource Center
• Financial Plan

This availability allows categorization values to be assigned at appropriate points in the planning process and applied automatically during import into the Financial Plan.

Note
The Category Field is not edited in Timesheets.
Categorization for timesheet actuals is applied automatically during import based on existing configuration.

(Optional) Configure Read‑Only Areas

Read‑only settings control where categorization values can be edited and help enforce governance.

1. Review the Read‑only Areas section after designating the Category Field.
2. Select which areas should allow editing, such as:
   • Work Plan
   • Resource Plan
   • Resource Center
   • Financial Plan

Read‑only controls determine which sources are authoritative and prevent unintended changes to categorization values.

Next Steps

After configuring the Category Field, complete the setup by assigning categorization values where appropriate.

1. Assign Categorization During Planning

Apply categorization values at the source of planning data.

• Assign Cost Categorization to Work Items

2. Assign Categorization to Resources

Define default categorization values for resource‑driven costs and imports.

• Apply Cost Categorization to Resources in the Resource Center
• Apply Cost Categorization to Resources in the Resource Plan

3. Configure Financial Plan Structures

Ensure Financial Plan structures support categorized reporting.

• Configure Financial Plan Cost Categories
• Configure a Normal Cost Type
• Configure a Combined Cost Type