Structure

Structure

In the menu Application Management / Organization / Structure, you will find an overview of your organizational structure as defined in the Spend Cloud. The structure captures the hierarchy between all locations and/or departments within your organization. This overview of organizational units is therefore the basis for the functioning of the Spend Cloud and an important part of the setup.

What is an Organizational Unit?


In the Spend Cloud, a department and/or location within a company is referred to as an organizational unit (OU). Organizational units are displayed in a hierarchical tree structure in the system. This means that the highest organizational unit is the department with the most authority within the organization. Usually, this is the organizational unit to which the management team or members of the Board of Directors are added. When the top-level organizational unit is expanded (by clicking the plus sign on the left), you can see an overview of all the organizational units that fall under it.

We recommend exercising caution when editing the structure. As mentioned above, the structure is used to determine the hierarchy within an organization. Editing or removing organizational units could potentially lead to undesired changes in the hierarchy. Therefore, think carefully about the possible consequences of these changes.



Structure Overview

From the overview page, you can view, edit, or delete the current structure.

By clicking on the magnifying glass icon at the end of a row, you can view the details of an organizational unit. Clicking 'Edit' at the top of the page or the pencil icon from the overview allows you to modify these details. For example, you can change the name of an OU (organizational unit) or set the status of the unit to 'Inactive' or 'Active'. Choosing 'Inactive' means the unit cannot be used anymore. Making an organizational unit inactive only applies to the current unit; underlying units are not automatically set to inactive.

The 'Delete' option can be found by clicking the three dots at the end of a row.

From the overview, you can also link necessary information:
  1. Link Cost Centers
  2. Link Employees
  3. Link Projects
By defining the links in a document, you can import them all at once rather than adding them one by one. At the top of the overview, you can upload the document under 'Import Links'. On that page, you can also view the field layout to understand how the document should be structured for importing. If you cannot select an import definition, it's not configured for your environment. If you want to use this functionality and it's not available, you can contact our support desk.

Adding an Organizational Unit

You can add a new organizational unit under another organizational unit. To do this, click on the plus icon at the end of the row of an OU. Fill in at least the required fields (marked with an asterisk). If the OU won't be used immediately, you can choose 'Inactive' for the status. Then click 'Save' at the top. The new OU will be immediately visible in the overview.

Once you've added an organizational unit, depending on your settings, you might need to link some data before you can use it optimally.

It's not possible to add underlying organizational units to inactive ones.

Linking Cost Centers

By linking a cost center to an organizational unit, you can limit the list of cost centers displayed when selecting an organizational unit. Only the linked cost centers will be shown when, for example, coding an invoice booked to that specific OU.

To link a cost center, click 'Link Cost Center' at the end of the desired OU's row. Check the box(es) for the cost center(s) and click 'Continue'. The selected cost centers will be listed. Then click 'Save' to activate the linkage.

With the 'Copy Links' action, you can copy the links of one organizational unit to another. This saves you from adding the links one by one. Click the three dots of the desired OU and choose 'Copy Links'. On the following page, select the link(s) you want to copy. On the subsequent page, select the unit to which you want to copy the data.

Linking Employees

Through this linkage, you can assign multiple employees the same role for the organizational unit. In the overview, select the relevant employee(s) and add the role on the next page.

Linking Projects / Variable Fields

This linkage allows you to limit the list of projects displayed when selecting an organizational unit. Only the linked projects will be shown. To select a project, check the box next to the project(s). If you also select the circle, this project will be automatically filled in when selecting the unit.

If your organization uses multiple variable fields to specify bookings (such as "Items"), the same process described for projects applies to linking these fields.

Use this option if you want to link multiple cost centers to multiple organizational units. Depending on the environment's setup, it might also be possible to import other links, such as between cost carriers and organizational units or between a free field (e.g., Projects) and the organizational units. For environments with multiple administrations, it's important to note that currently, links can only be imported if one list (e.g., cost center list) is used for all administrations.

Generate a CSV file containing the desired links and navigate to Application Management / Organization / Structure.
  1. Click 'Import Links' at the top of this overview.
  2. Click 'Choose a File', locate the relevant file, and click 'Open'.
  3. Confirm the import by clicking 'Import'.
If you receive an error message, double-check the field layout and ensure all data in the CSV file is placed in the correct column. You should only include the code of the cost center (or cost carrier code / or free field code) as the column value, and the name of the organizational unit is used as the default value for the organizational unit. If the organizational units are assigned numbers, importing by number is also possible. If you want to use this and it's not configured, you can contact our support desk.

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