Center Types
The four center types in Trabalance — Warehouse, Sales Outlet, Branch, and Others — and what each one unlocks.
Every center has a type. The type is a classification: it tells your team and your reports what kind of location a unit is, and it is what the Type column, the Type facet and the Type select on the Business Units page filter by. It does not switch features on or off — every unit has the same tabs (Overview, Performance, Stock, Assets, Documents) whatever its type. Choose the type that describes the location honestly, so filters and exports read the way people expect.
The Four Center Types
| Type | Primary Purpose | Typical Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Warehouse | Physical storage and dispatch location for inventory | Main Warehouse London, Distribution Center Singapore, Cold Storage Facility, Returns Processing Center |
| Sales Outlet | Retail or customer-facing service point | High Street Retail Store, Airport Kiosk, Showroom Floor, Service Counter, Online Fulfillment Center |
| Branch | A full business location with its own revenue, costs, and staff | Toronto Branch, Dubai Office, Sydney Operations, UK Division, APAC Regional Office |
| Others | Departments, cost centers, virtual groupings, or any location type that does not fit the above three | Head Office Admin, Finance Department, Central IT, Construction Site A, Project Cost Center 01 |
Whatever the type, a unit can hold stock (Stock tab), send and receive transfers, own fixed assets (Assets tab), and report its own revenue, cost of sales, gross profit and net income for a period (Overview and Performance tabs).
Choosing the Right Type
Use Warehouse if the primary function of the center is to store and move physical inventory. Even if the warehouse also serves as a branch HQ, the Warehouse type is correct as long as stock management is the dominant activity.
Use Sales Outlet when the center's defining activity is direct customer transactions — sales, service, or both. Outlets typically operate with tight inventory (what is on the shelf is what is available) and high transaction volume.
Use Branch when the center is a full-scale business unit that has staff, incurs costs, generates revenue across multiple channels (not just retail), and needs its own P&L view. A branch may contain sub-centers that are Warehouses or Outlets.
Use Others for everything that does not fit neatly into the above three: corporate departments, project cost centers, virtual accounting segments, or temporary operational locations.
Type and Sub-Center Hierarchy
Center type and the parent-child hierarchy are independent. A Branch (parent) can contain both a Warehouse and a Sales Outlet as sub-centers. The hierarchy determines reporting roll-up; the type is the label. You can freely mix types across levels of the hierarchy.
Example:
- UK Operations (Branch — the parent)
- London Distribution Center (Warehouse — sub-center)
- Covent Garden Retail Store (Sales Outlet — sub-center)
- Head Office Finance Team (Others — sub-center)
Reports run at "UK Operations" aggregate all three sub-centers. The London Distribution Center is still listed as a Warehouse and the Retail Store as a Sales Outlet.
If you created a center with the wrong type, open it, click Edit Center, and change the Unit Type. Nothing else changes — the unit's documents, stock and assets stay exactly as they are; only the label in lists and filters is updated.