Charging a department code when printing in PaperCut

Questions

  • How do I charge a print job to my department instead of my personal balance?
  • How do I print on behalf of a department or faculty member I work for?
  • Where is the option to charge printing to a cost center or project code?
  • As a student worker, how do I bill printing to my department instead of my own PaperCut account?
  • What is a shared account in PaperCut?
  • I don’t see an option to charge a different account — why not?
  • How do I get permission to charge printing to a specific department account?
  • How do I switch between my personal account and a department account when printing?

Environment

This article applies to:

  • Bowdoin faculty, staff, and student workers who need to charge print jobs to a department, grant, or other shared account instead of their personal PaperCut balance
  • Printing from a Bowdoin-issued MacBook Pro or a Windows 11 computer with the PaperCut Client installed
  • Any PaperCut-enabled printer on campus

In PaperCut, a department or cost center code is called a shared account. You may also hear it referred to as a project code or department code — these all refer to the same thing.

Access is not automatic. Before you can charge to a shared account, IT has to grant you access to it. If a student or staff member needs to bill printing to a specific department or grant, submit a request through the Service Catalog before they need to print. Without the association in place, the shared-account option will not appear in the print dialog.

Resolution

Charge a print job to a shared account

Once IT has given you access to a shared account, follow these steps each time you want to bill a job to that account instead of your personal balance:

  1. Print your document as you normally would from any application.
  2. When prompted, enter your Bowdoin username and password to identify the job as yours.
  3. The Print Job Notification window appears. Under Print job actions, the default is Charge to my personal account.
  4. Select Charge to shared account.
  5. From the drop-down menu, choose the shared account you want to bill.
  6. Click Print to send the job to the printer.
  7. Release the job at the printer as usual.

PaperCut Print Job Notification window with the Charge to shared account option selected, showing a drop-down menu of available shared accounts.

Tip: The shared-account selection applies only to the current print job. Your next job will default back to Charge to my personal account, so you’ll need to select the shared account again each time.

Don’t see the shared-account option?

If the Charge to shared account option does not appear in your Print Job Notification window, it usually means one of the following:

  • Your access to the shared account has not yet been set up. Submit a request through the Service Catalog.
  • The PaperCut Client is not running on your computer. See PaperCut Print Troubleshooting in the Related Articles section.

Additional Help

If you need further assistance, you have several options:

  • Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
  • Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
  • In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
  • Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.

Additional Resources

Print Article

Related Articles (8)

Check Your PaperCut Account Balance
How to check your PaperCut printing balance at Bowdoin College. Students, faculty, and staff can view their current balance and recent printing activity by signing in to the PaperCut web portal from any device, on or off campus.
Choose Color or Black & White on Mac and Save Print Settings
How to switch between color and black & white (grayscale) when printing from a Mac to a Bowdoin campus printer, how to save reusable presets for each mode, and how to have macOS remember your last print choice. Includes guidance on the Find-Me-Print-Color queue for student color printing. Applies to macOS Sequoia and Tahoe.
Choose Color or Black & White on Windows 11
How to switch between color and black & white (grayscale) when printing from a Windows 11 computer to a Bowdoin campus printer. Covers selecting the print mode in the Windows print dialog for Find-Me-Print and Find-Me-Print-Color, and how to save default settings for a printer. Applies to Bowdoin-issued Windows 11 computers.
PaperCut Client
Explains what the PaperCut Client (PCClient) application is, why it is required for printing on campus, and how to tell whether it is running on a Mac or Windows 11 computer. Applies to all Bowdoin students, faculty, and staff.
PaperCut Print Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting the PaperCut print workflow on a Bowdoin-issued Mac, iPad, or Windows 11 computer. Covers jobs that won't print, jobs stuck in the queue, releasing from the web portal, balance or quota errors, blank pages, and unresponsive release stations. For PaperCut Client software problems, see PaperCut Client Troubleshooting.
Prepare and submit your poster for Bowdoin Copy and Print Center printing
How to prepare a large-format poster file and submit it to the Bowdoin Copy and Print Center for printing. Covers sizing your design in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or other tools, exporting to PDF, and submitting your job through the Copy Shop website. For Bowdoin students, faculty, and staff printing posters for classes, symposia, or events.
Printing to a PaperCut printer
The end-to-end workflow for printing to a campus PaperCut printer from a Bowdoin-issued Mac or Windows 11 computer. Covers signing in to PaperCut, sending a job, and releasing it at the printer. Links to other articles for installing printers, charging a department, and troubleshooting.
Student print fund allocation
Overview of the PaperCut print allocation for Bowdoin students. Explains the $60/semester allocation, printing rates, how color jobs charge to OneCard rather than the allocation, what happens when the allocation runs out, how to request additional funds through Bowdoin Bot or the Service Catalog, and when unused funds clear. Faculty and staff printing is not covered here.

Related Services / Offerings (2)

Add to or remove from PaperCut cost center
Request to add or remove people from a PaperCut cost center, or to create, modify, or remove a cost center for departmental print charging. Faculty and staff only.
PaperCut Printing
Bowdoin's PaperCut print management platform. Request software help, manage cost centers, configure printers, set up guest access, or request additional student print funds.