cost center

Definition

A department that spends money but doesn't directly generate revenue, making it perpetually vulnerable during budget cuts despite often being essential. Where accountants go to find sacrificial lambs.

Example Usage

HR is considered a cost center here, which explains why we're using recruitment software from 2008.

Origin

Management accounting terminology from the mid-20th century

Fun Fact

IT departments are the most common cost centers, yet companies spend an average of 3.28% of revenue on them—essential but eternally under-appreciated.

Source: Accounting and financial management terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

cascade communication

A top-down information flow where messages trickle from executives through management layers to front-line employees, losing clarity and gaining confusion at each level like a game of corporate telephone.

💼 Corporate / Business

Beginner

top-down

Decisions imposed from executives downward without input from people who actually do the work, ensuring maximum misunderstanding and resentment.

💼 Corporate / Business

Beginner

Spitball

To casually suggest ideas without thorough analysis, like throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. The opposite of rigorous strategic planning, yet somehow equally valued in meetings.

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

Boil the Ocean

Attempting something absurdly ambitious and fundamentally impossible, like trying to get everyone in accounting to agree on lunch. Used to shut down any idea that would require actual effort or imagination.

💼 Corporate / Business

Beginner

In Transition

Corporate-speak for 'unemployed but trying to sound sophisticated about it.' It's the professional euphemism that turns 'I got laid off' into something that sounds almost intentional and growth-oriented. The LinkedIn equivalent of 'it's not you, it's me' but for your career status.

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

ideate

To generate, develop, or communicate ideas, typically in a brainstorming context. A verb invented because 'brainstorm' and 'think' weren't sufficiently corporate-sounding.

💼 Corporate / Business

Translate This Term

See “cost center” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Intermediate

dial it in

To perfect a dish's preparation, timing, or seasoning through repeated adjustment and tasting until it's flawless. The c...