🧩 Cost Types are now live. A simpler way to structure budgets without bloating cost codes

We have released Cost Types in Deep Space. This is a foundational change to how project costs are structured, controlled, and reported, and it directly tackles one of the most common problems we see in construction systems. The problem most builders are living with In many systems, cost codes end up carrying far more responsibility than they should. They are expected to describe what the work is, how the work is delivered, and how the cost should roll up for reporting. When a system cannot separate those ideas, teams are forced to bake delivery method into the cost code itself. That is how you end up with structures like: Electrical – Labour Electrical – Materials Electrical – Plant At first it works. Over time it does not. Cost code lists blow out. Budgets become harder to read. Reporting becomes inconsistent across projects. Teams start creating codes just to satisfy the system rather than reflect how the job is actually built. Once the job is live, forecasting and cost control suffer because the structure itself is fighting you. A simpler way to think about costs In Deep Space, every cost is treated as a single line item viewed through three independent lenses. Cost Code describes what the work is. A stable, scope based work package that site teams, PMs, and CAs recognise. Cost Type describes how that work is delivered. Labour, materials, plant, subcontract, freight, and so on. Budget Category describes where the cost rolls up financially at a company level. Each dimension has a clear purpose. None of them need to compensate for the others. What Cost Types unlock With Cost Types now live, the same cost code can appear multiple times within a project budget, differentiated only by how the cost is delivered. For example, instead of creating separate cost codes for labour, materials, and plant, you can now budget and track: Carpentry – Framing with a Labour cost type Carpentry – Framing with a Materials cost type Carpentry – Framing with an Equipment cost type All of these roll up to the same work package. Nothing is duplicated. Nothing is hidden in naming conventions. This mirrors how construction budgets are actually built and managed in the real world. Why this makes life easier on live jobs This approach removes a huge amount of mental overhead. Site teams can focus on clear work packages instead of deciphering cost code variations. Commercial teams can forecast accurately by delivery method without restructuring budgets. Finance teams can report cleanly across labour, materials, and plant at both project and company level. Most importantly, you no longer need to redesign your cost structure every time you want better reporting. The structure stays clean. The data stays flexible. How this works in Deep Space today Cost Types are defined and managed centrally Cost Codes remain stable and scope based Cost Types are explicitly assigned, not implied through naming Reporting can slice costs by Cost Code, Cost Type, or Budget Category without compromise This follows a core Deep Space principle. Every cost is one record, viewed through parallel lenses rather than forced into a hierarchy. This is step one This release is the first step in rolling Cost Types across the wider commercial workflow. You will see Cost Types progressively extended into related records including budgets, commitments, invoices, progress claims, forecasting, and reporting. The goal is consistency from setup through to final account. As always, feedback is welcome. These features are built to reflect how you actually run jobs, and your input helps shape what comes next. The Deep Space Product Team