🧩 Cost code lifecycle controls are now live

Clean up your cost structure without breaking your financial history If you’ve been running projects for any length of time, you’ll know this pain. Over the years, cost codes grow. Duplicates creep in. Naming conventions change. Legacy codes hang around long after they should have been retired. But deleting cost codes is not an option. Once they’ve been used on budgets, POs, claims, invoices, or synced to the GL, deleting them would blow holes through reporting and audit trails. That usually leaves teams stuck with messy structures and no safe way to clean them up. This update introduces proper, finance-grade lifecycle management for cost codes. It lets you tidy up and rationalise your structure without ever compromising historical data or reporting integrity. What’s new Archive cost codes safely You can now archive cost codes that should no longer be used going forward. Archived cost codes: Cannot be selected on new purchase orders, variations, claims, invoices, or schedules Are filtered out of cost code pickers across the system Remain fully visible in historical budgets, forecasts, reports, and GL-linked records Become read-only so past data stays intact This means you can retire old or incorrect codes with confidence, knowing they will never be used again but will always remain traceable. Lock cost codes that are financially active Some codes should not change once money is flowing. Cost codes that are tied to active projects, open periods, or GL mappings can now be locked to prevent edits to: Code name Identifier Financial mappings Unlocking requires finance permission and a reason, which is audit logged. This protects month-end close and ensures reporting stays defensible. Manage the full lifecycle from one place A new Manage Lifecycle view gives finance and admin teams a clear picture of which codes are: Active Locked Archived From here, you can search, review status, and take action deliberately instead of working around the system or keeping side spreadsheets. What changes in day-to-day work When you are: Creating a purchase order Issuing a head or subcontract variation Setting up cost types Scheduling tasks You will now only see valid, active cost codes. Archived codes simply disappear from selection, reducing mistakes and rework at the source. At the same time, when you review past projects, forecasts, or reports, nothing changes. History stays exactly as it was. Why this matters This is not about convenience. It is about trust. Cost codes and budget categories sit at the centre of: Budgets Commitments Claims and invoices Forecasting Company-level reporting Xero and GL integrations Introducing hard delete would be dangerous. This lifecycle model gives you a way to evolve your structure over time without rewriting history. That is how serious construction systems behave. What’s next This is step one. The same lifecycle controls will be extended to Budget Categories next, following the same principles: No deletion of financial history Safe cleanup Clear governance for finance teams As always, feedback is welcome. If you have edge cases or workflows you want us to pressure-test, let us know. The Deep Space Product Team