Attributes vs. Custom Objects

Every time you need to capture new information in Atomicwork, the question is the same: does this data belong as a field on something that already exists, or does it need to be its own thing?

Getting this right keeps your data model clean. Getting it wrong means either data crammed into the wrong place, or unnecessary object types that nobody uses.

Add a field to an existing record when...

It describes exactly one thing about that record — always.

If the information is a property of the record it belongs to, and there's one value per record, add a field. A user has one job title. An asset has one serial number. A ticket has one priority. These are fields.

It has no lifecycle of its own.

If the data doesn't go through states, doesn't get created and closed independently, and nobody needs to manage it in a list — it's a field, not a record type.

Adding a cost_center field to your user profiles is correct. Cost center is a single attribute of an employee — it doesn't have a status, it doesn't expire, and you don't manage cost centers as standalone records. If you later need a real Cost Center object that tracks budget, owners, and allocations, that's a separate decision.