If they don't directly contribute to the bottom line, that's how they should be classified from an accounting perspective. There are at least a couple of ways

If they don't directly contribute to the bottom line, that's how they should be classified from an accounting perspective. There are at least a couple of ways IT departments could avoid that fate: having internal customers pay for their services independent of the cost or directly managing projects that otherwise contribute to the bottom line. It's rare, but it does happen.