Creating a Center
Every field on the center creation form — required fields, address details, operating hours, and what cannot be changed after creation.
Centers are the location backbone of Trabalance. Every inventory movement, fixed asset, payroll run, and financial transaction can be tagged to a center. Setting up centers correctly at the start — before any data entry begins — saves significant effort later. Retroactively reassigning documents to the correct center is possible but tedious.
Creating a Center
Navigate to: Operations → Business Units → New
Center Name and Unit Type are required. Status defaults to Active; add a Description if useful.
If this center belongs inside another center (e.g., a warehouse sub-center within a branch), select the parent now. The picker shows each candidate with its own parent so you can see where it will sit.
Address, Phone Number and Email are all required.
Date Operational is required. Pick a Center Manager from your users, or create a new team member from the form.
Enter a capacity number and either one set of hours for every day or per-day open and close times, marking closed days.
Click Create Center. The center is Active and appears in the Business Units list and in location pickers.
Full Field Reference
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Center Name | Yes | The display name as it appears in pickers, reports, and document headers. Use a name that identifies both the location and type: "London Warehouse", "Singapore Sales Office", "Toronto Branch HQ", "Finance Department". |
| Description | No | A brief explanation of the center's purpose, scope, or operational notes. Shown on the unit's Overview. |
| Unit Type | Yes | Warehouse, Sales Outlet, Branch, or Others. A classification shown in lists and filters. See Center Types for guidance on which to choose. |
| Status | No | Active or Inactive. Defaults to Active. Only Active centers appear in location pickers; an Inactive center retains all historical data and associations. A third option, Under Maintenance, appears in the picker but behaves exactly like Active everywhere — do not use it to take a unit out of circulation. |
| Parent Center | No | Select a parent to nest this center in the hierarchy. Leave blank for a top-level center. A center can have only one parent. |
| Address | Yes | The physical address of the location, as free text. |
| Phone Number | Yes | Main contact telephone number for this center. Formatted as entered — include the country code for international numbers. |
| Yes | Contact email address for this center. | |
| Center Manager | No | The user assigned as the manager of this center. Pick an existing user, or use "Create new team member" to add one (created with the Staff role) and select them in one step. |
| Date Operational | Yes | The date this center began (or will begin) operations. |
| Capacity | No | Storage or operational capacity as a number, in any unit meaningful to your business. Used for planning, not enforced. |
| Operating Hours | No | Same hours every day (one open and one close time, default 09:00 – 17:00), or per-day: tick the days the center is open and set each day's open and close time. |
| Logo | No | A per-location logo that replaces the business logo on this unit's documents. |
Centers are referenced by virtually every transaction in the system — inventory movements, purchase bills, sales invoices, payroll runs, fixed assets, and project costs. Setting up the complete center hierarchy before beginning data entry ensures every transaction is correctly attributed from day one. Retroactive reassignment of transactions to the correct center is possible but requires editing individual documents.
Changing a Center Later
Every field, including Unit Type and Parent Center, can be changed with Edit Center on the unit's page. Two cautions:
- Unit Type — changing type on a center with existing data does not alter that data, but lists and filters will show the new type for all of it.
- Parent Center — changing the parent of a center with associated inventory, assets, or documents changes how its history rolls up. Plan your hierarchy carefully before going live.
After Creation
Once saved, the center appears in:
- The Business Units list
- Location pickers for inventory, assets, projects, and documents (pickers use a login-time snapshot, so sign in again if a new unit does not appear)
- The center filter on reports
- The center selector on employee records (for payroll)
Related
- Business units — the list, the detail tabs, and the hierarchy
- Center types — choosing the Unit Type
- Allowed items — curating the unit's catalog after it exists
- Stock transfers between centers — moving stock in and out