Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something. The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.
The management of time and cost are fundamentally linked. The time that a project requires will impact directly on the cost of undertaking the project. The monitoring of the project requires that both cost and time are measured, and because these are fundamentally linked, controls must be in place to monitor both. It is often the case that the project schedule will include budgets and these are derived from the estimating process.
5.1 Cost Estimating
5.1.1 Definition of cost estimating
Cost estimating is the process used to quantify the cost of services, materials and resources required to deliver a project.
An estimate should be robust and repeatable. The estimate should contain the source information used to calculate the estimate, and associated assumptions.
5.1.2 Purpose of a cost estimate
The purpose of a cost estimate is to determine the likely cost of the project. It may have a number of uses, for example to create budgets, to draft proposals, to tender for work, to get approval for research studies Depending on its purpose, the scope and detail of the cost estimate will vary.
5.1.3 Cost estimating and the project lifecycle
Cost estimating has four main stages as shown in the figure below Figure 20: Cost Estimating Process
5.1.4 Estimate Types
Project A: This project is new to your company. You do not feel confident in estimating the project costs using internal resources. There are other companies that have done this type of work. Yet you still want the most accurate estimates possible.
The reason for making a plan is to help me to be further in charge of of my future, by reminding me what I have learned and achieved. Creating my plan will help me develop more confidence in my ability to tackle new things.
Cost measurement is the process of determining the dollar amount of direct materials, direct labor, and overhead that should be assigned to production. Cost accumulation is the process of associating costs with the units produced. Cost measurement is more about whether actual or estimated costs should be used, and cost assignment is about whether costs should be assigned to jobs or processes.
Planning is an important action that that everyone who has goals should do, because planning will help people reach goals if they properly prepare to reach their goals. For example, when I was in high school one of my goals was to go to college, so I started planning the steps I needed to take to get to where I wanted to be. I started planning the things I needed to do such as get good grades, volunteer, apply for scholarships, and attend college. Because I already had a plan in mind and knew the steps I needed to take, it was easy to meet my goal, but if I had not planned for my future, then most likely
This falls into the comparative estimation method that the book calls parametric estimation. We would start by finding the most similar projects and to define the cost estimation based on what we historically has been our cost values. Most of our products are made out of about 10 different materials we use regularly so we are able to easily estimate our material costs as well as lead times for acquiring material. Since we use this parametric estimation we are able to also estimate our cost times for production, inspection and any assembly requirements by comparing to similar products. If we are comparing though to a product that has not been produced recently we will estimate costs based on inflation to ensure that we are accounting for changes in economic times.
budget. As the project evolves, additional information is discovered and further estimates are produced. This is an extremely important process and we cannot emphasize enough the need for this re‐estimation or re‐budgeting process at each phase of the project. In any case, for the purpose of this article, we will call the revised budget the "actual budget." Another standard activity is to provide management with an expected cash flow. From a financial perspective this is an important activity, but it also can be used as your cost expectation.
What is the Planning Fallacy? The planning fallacy falsely estimates how much we can actually accomplish. The fallacy is rooted behind false confidence, and mistakes that sometimes go unacknowledged. Because of that, the person, along with their high self esteem, makes predictions based on false evidence then fails. An individual wants a certain outcome and knows they will get to that end goal, but still manages to refuse reality and forget to take into consideration the larger picture. For example a person who’s moving to a new home might estimate that it will only take a day or two to pack their belongings. In reality it takes a week to a month; he or she predicted it will take less time and energy.
A successful project management will include time control and cost planning. Accompany with these two important features, and then bring out the best quality project.
7.0 Budget Estimate and Financial AnalysisA preliminary estimate of the cost for the entire project is $200,000. This includes the hire of a temporary project manager, and the hours used by current employees to work on the project. Project savings comes in the form of reduced health insurance cost due to a healthier workforce that makes fewer claims.
Project Time Management – an estimated time for the completion of each task and based on resources, the duration is determined.
For instance, the concept of cost estimation which assists in estimating future expenditure as the expenditure depends on the cost of the respective activities can be applied in the setting of a budget which is simply an estimate and schedule of all costs required to be assigned to an activity. One can make an estimation of the resources required for an activity by applying the cost estimation techniques. Since there are limiting factors to each activity such as scarcity of resources for activities, the concept of constraints can be applied together with the concept of cost volume profit analysis to ensure that maximum benefits are driven from the scarce resources and the number of activities that are available. This facilitates the allocation of resources that most equitable and profitable. The theory of constraints is also applicable in the process of setting up budgets. In setting up budget one considers the amount of resources that are available and cannot therefore set a budget plan that exceeds the amount of resources that are available. This implies that the budget is constrained by the amount of
Planning is not only about knowing what to do, when to do and who will do it, but it is also about defining the path towards attaining the
Development effort estimation is often among the first steps when considering a software engineering project. Estimation is crucial for determining the value of a project: whether it will be a project that is able to be completed, a project that is worth pursuing, and a project that is economically justified. A reasonable and informed cost estimate can only be reported to a customer after effort estimation analysis has been performed.
This White paper titled “ Cost Estimation in Ship Building Industry ” explore an overview of Cost Estimation application developed for Ship building Projects for a Client. Projects like Ship building involve heavy expenditure, Time, and labor. An incorrect estimate can result in deliverable of a wrong quotation that may further result in making the project a non profitable one or it can affect the bidding process. This white paper provides the functional over view of a Cost Estimate application.
According to an accounting textbook, cost is defined as a resource sacrificed or foregone to achieve a specific objective. It is something given up in exchange. It is necessary for project managers to understand project cost management since project costs money and consumes resources.