By default, Productive calculates overhead for your whole organization (the Organization wide type).
If you have subsidiaries, you can switch to a per-subsidiary type, so each subsidiary gets its own overhead per hour, based on its own facility cost and hours.
The switch takes effect from the current month, and your history doesn't change.
đ Not sure which type to pick? See Overhead Cost per Subsidiary.
Before You Switch the Calculation Type
Changing the calculation type doesn't change your past months. Each type keeps its own history, so the months you already have stay as they are.
For example, if you switch from Organization wide to Per subsidiary (by person), your Organization wide months stay the same. Productive has already generated by-person months starting in January 2026. You can compare them before you switch, and you'll see them right after.
đ See Compare Types in Overhead History below.
How to Switch the Calculation Type
Go to Settings > Overhead cost and make sure the Overhead cost toggle is on.
Click the pencil icon next to Calculation Type.
Select Per subsidiary (by budget) or Per subsidiary (by person).
Read the Calculation change message, then click Change calculation.
The new calculation is effective from the current month.
đ Switching isn't the last step. Until you enter a facility cost for every subsidiary, the numbers aren't accurate. See Update Facility Costs for Each Subsidiary below.
Update Facility Costs for Each Subsidiary
When you switch, Productive moves your organization facility cost into the default for the first subsidiary in alphabetical order. The other subsidiaries' defaults start at $0.
Facility cost is the only setting you can set separately for each subsidiary, so update it for every one to keep the numbers accurate. Averaging period and Calculation date are shared by all subsidiaries.
Open the Calculation For list. It shows all subsidiaries in alphabetical order, and the first one is selected by default.
Select a subsidiary.
Adjust its Facility cost and other recurring cost items, such as software licences, utilities, and equipment rentals.
Repeat for each subsidiary.
What the Default Changes
The facility cost you set here is the default for each new month of that subsidiary. It doesn't fill in the current month or past months. Those keep their own facility cost, so their facility cost shows $0.00 until you add one
If you want to compare types, add a facility cost to the past months you're comparing. Without it, those months show a lower overhead per hour, and the comparison isn't meaningful
To fill in a month, open it on the Overhead cost page, expand Facility cost, add the cost, and click Save & Recalculate.
đ Learn how in Review and Adjust Overhead Cost by Month.
Settings Shared by All Subsidiaries
Averaging period and Calculation date are shared by all subsidiaries. You set them once, the same way as for the organization-wide type, and each subsidiary's new months start with them. They appear separately from each subsidiary's calculation.
đ Learn how to set them in Setting Up Overhead Cost. To change the averaging period for the current month, see Review and Adjust Overhead Cost by Month.
Review the Results
For the selected subsidiary, you'll see:
Overhead cost setup for future months
Projection for current month
Overhead history
Check each subsidiary's Current overhead per hour. If it shows $0.00, see If a Subsidiary Shows Zeroes below.
Compare Types in Overhead History
Compare the types before you switch, or after, to see how your numbers changed.
The Overhead history table on the Overhead cost page shows the type you're using now. To compare all three, open the full Overhead history page.
Go to Settings > Overhead cost.
Click here in the line below the calculation cards: "You can find other overhead calculation data here".
On the full Overhead history page, choose a tab: Organization-wide, Per subsidiary (by budget), or Per subsidiary (by person).
On the per-subsidiary tabs, select a subsidiary from the list.
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Each tab shows all calculations generated for that type, including months when it wasn't active. Compare Overhead per hour for the same month across tabs.
Months with no facility cost show a lower overhead per hour, because only internal cost is counted. To compare them properly, add a facility cost to those months first. See Update Facility Costs for Each Subsidiary above.
Months on this page are view-only. To change a month, open it from the Overhead cost page.
If a Subsidiary Shows $0.00
Overhead per hour is $0.00 when a month has no hours or no costs to divide.
No hours: No one with overhead turned on tracked time that counts toward this subsidiary
No costs: The month has no facility cost and no internal cost
If only Facility cost / hour is $0.00, open the month, expand Facility cost, add the cost, and click Save & Recalculate.
đ Turning a month off doesn't change the numbers you see. Productive just doesn't add the overhead to time entries and bookings. The Status column in the Overhead history table shows which months are off.
Switching Back to Organization Wide
Click the pencil icon next to Calculation Type.
Select Organization wide.
Read the Calculation change message, then click Change calculation.
đ When you switch back, Productive adds up your subsidiary facility costs and uses the total as the organization-wide facility cost. This is the new default for upcoming months. For example, if Subsidiary A has $1,000 and Subsidiary B has $2,000, the new default is $3,000. Each subsidiary's own facility cost then resets to $0.
Update the total afterward to keep the numbers accurate.
Past months stay available in the Overhead history table on the Overhead cost page, and on the full Overhead history page.
