When creating an account for costs of printing marketing materials, you should choose the primary cost account type. A primary cost account is an account that records the costs that are directly incurred by a business process or activity, such as materials, labor, or services. A primary cost account is usually assigned to a cost element category that defines how the costs are posted and analyzed in Controlling (CO). For example, cost element category 1 is used for primary costs or revenues that are posted from Financial Accounting (FI).