These costs are incurred to support the operation of a warehouse facility. They are tied to a  specific warehouse, and if the warehouse was closed, these costs would disappear. Operating administrative expense (OA) facilitates both the storage and handling processes, and it is usually not possible to directly relate incurring these expenses to either function. Generally, some arbitrary base (ratio of handling to storage cost, for example) is used to assign these expenses to either handling or storage. The purpose, however, of this section of the warehousing cost process is to ensure that all operating administrative costs have been accounted for rather than to develop a process for assigning operating administrative costs to either handling or storage. The focus is to fully enumerate the operating administrative costs; individual firms can select their own method for assigning the costs to handling or storage.
Not every warehouse will accumulate operating administrative expenses in the manner prescribed here. However, using this methodology will help ensure that each firm is including the same costs and that a full set of warehouse costs is accumulated.

A. Supervisory Salaries
This category includes all payments to a facility's management and supervisory personnel. Personnel in this group include the warehouse general manager, assistant general managers, operations' supervisors, office managers, traffic managers, and clerical managers. The elements included in these expenses are wages, salaries, benefits, overtime, bonuses, compensated time-off, workman's compensation, and payroll taxes for the supervisory/ management personnel in the warehouse.

B. Clerical Salaries
This category includes all payments to clerical  personnel in a given facility. The elements of this category are wages, salaries, benefits,  bonuses, overtime, compensated time-off, worker's compensation, and payroll taxes for all clerical personnel.

C. Purchased Labor
This category includes the cost of temporary office help used in a given facility. The expenses include payments for the hiring of office help from temporary service agencies.

D. Office Equipment (major)
This category includes the expenses for office equipment in a given facility which is determined to have a life and is large enough dollar-wise to be classified as an asset.
Included in this category is office equipment such as typewriters, copiers, calculators, etc. The expenses include rent or depreciation and interest, maintenance and repairs. Maintenance includes labor, parts and equipment costs as well as any purchased contract maintenance services.

E. Office Equipment (minor)
This category includes the expenses for office equipment that is not large enough to be classified as an asset.

F. Office Maintenance
This category includes the expenses for maintenance and repair of the warehouse office space. The expenses include labor, materials and equipment, or contracted services to repair and maintain the office. Janitorial services for the office are included in this section.

G. Telephone/Facsimile
This category includes telephone, TWX, facsimile and other similar communication expenses for a specific warehouse. The expenses included in this category are charges for all the communications as well as the cost of supplies and non-capitalized equipment.

H. Postage
This category includes all postage, postal fees, UPS, and express delivery services associated with the operation of the warehouse.

I. Printing
This category includes printing costs for all printed materials used in operating the warehouse.

J. Office Supplies
This category includes all supplies (pencils, paper, etc.) used in operating the warehouse office as well as other miscellaneous items that are not found in other categories.

K. Data Processing
This category includes all the expenses incurred by a specific warehouse facility for the purpose of generating and managing data necessary to operate the facility. The primary focus is on computer hardware, software, programming, and computer services developed and used in that warehouse. This category does not include data processing supplied by "corporate headquarters" or the "general office," or software purchased under a master license for use at multiple facilities. The expenses include rental or depreciation and interest on data processing equipment, the cost of dedicated telephone lines, computer forms, supplies and paper, software, maintenance, including labor, parts and contract maintenance services, the cost of data processing training, and contracted data processing services. Rental of DP equipment such as printers, display stations, and terminals would be included as would be depreciation of similar equipment owned by the company. Examples of contracted services include charges for programming done by outsiders or outside payroll preparation work.

L. Legal and Professional
This category includes payments to outside professionals whose work can be specifically traced to a given facility. Expenses included in this area are legal fees, CPA fees, engineering fees, consulting fees, and the like.

M. Taxes and Licenses
This category includes expenditures for taxes (other than income and real estate) and licenses that are imposed by a government agency and on a specific facility. Some of the expenses included here are occupational licenses and franchise taxes.

N. Travel
This category includes only those travel expenses that support operations at the specific facility. Travel expenses incurred by operating personnel make up the bulk of this category.

O. Personal Property Tax
This category includes personal property taxes assessed on office furniture and equipment.

P. Insurance and Claims
This category includes various types of insurance premiums related to the operation of a particular facility. The expenses include premiums for liability, personal property, legal liability, umbrella, property damage, and business interruptions. In addition, this category includes liability claims where coverage doesn't exist, and the deductible portions of some policies.

Q. Losses Due to Damage, Shortages, and Errors
This category includes the expenses associated with mistakes made in the operation of the warehouse. The primary factors involve damage to merchandise, merchandise shortages, and errors made in handling and shipping product. The expenses include the cost of damaged merchandise (or customer claims therefrom), uninsured losses, freight charges, and other costs of shipping errors.