Overheads
Overheads are costs that cannot be attributed directly to a single job or product — administration, rent, management, IT; they are distributed via mark-up rates or cost centres.
Definition
The distribution is always an assumption. A mark-up on labour hours hits businesses with a high material share differently from those with a high personnel share. Whoever changes the key changes the paper profitability of individual jobs without anything having actually changed.
In practice that means: the key has to be explainable and stay stable for years. Only then do job comparisons over time carry meaning.
What the software must be able to do
Check whether cost centres and mark-up rates can be maintained and whether the distribution stays traceable in the report. A distribution you cannot break down will not be believed in a dispute.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Bookkeeping and retention: Accrual principle Accrued liabilities Annual accounts Association accounting Balance sheet Balance sheet total Book value Break-even point Business assets Business expenses Cash book Cash flow statement Cash receipts Contribution margin Cost centre Current assets Debit and credit Depreciation Double-entry bookkeeping Duty to keep accounts EBIT EBITDA Equity Equity ratio Financial year Fixed assets Fixed costs Foreign currency General ledger Gross profit Hidden reserves Income statement Inventory count Journal Journal entry Liabilities Liquidity Loss carry-forward Membership dues Net profit Opening balance sheet Pass-through item Prepaid expenses Provision Record-keeping ordinance Reserves Retained profit Simple accounts Swiss SME chart of accounts Tamper resistance Turnover Value adjustment Variable costs Volunteer-run structure Voucher Year-end closing modules