Project cost management is a series of activities for estimating, allocating, and controlling costs within the project. It allows determining and approving budget for the project and controlling spending. For example, in construction project cost management it is vital to estimate cost of materials, equipment, salary of workers, etc. (McConnell, 2010). Project cost management deals with the cost of the resources needed to complete an organization’s projects. Project cost management also considers the effect of project decisions on the cost of using the project product.
Different elements of the organization perceive cost differently, as the timing of a project cost identification affects their particular organizational function. To be an effective project manager one must understand each cost, and realize that the timing of cost identification can affect both project and corporate financial performance (Meredith & Mantel, 2012).
There are three perceptions of cost. Those three perceptions are as follows: commitments, expenses and cash flow. Commitment is simply agreeing to pay the vender a retain amount of money. This is typically a concern of the project manager. The commitment made by the project manger is taken out of the budget of the overall project. Unfortunately, many accounting systems are not structured to support project cost reporting needs and do not identify commitments. This plays havoc with the project manager’s fiscal control process, as he cannot get a
What types / categories of costs were associated with this project (operational or capital funding, project or post project etc).
Cost Management is used to outline the costs of planning a project. Estimating costs through data collection, design planning, and budgeting are used throughout facility planning to reduce costs
Callahan, K.R., Stetz, G.S., & Brooks, L.M. (2007). Project Management Accounting:Budgeting, Tracking, and Reporting Cost and Profitability . Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Various terms are used to describe costs. Having an understanding of these terms will provide a better insight to managers and companies on making budget decisions, efficiently. Not only the ones described above should be considered, but also all types of costs related to the decision in effect. Efficient managers will considered all aspects related to the analyses in question.
Another element that is essential in the project management plan is the cost management plan. The main focus of the cost management plan is overseeing the cost of the necessary resources for the execution of the project (PMI, 2013). This function is completed within the planning stage of an endeavor to provide a structure to support performance and efficiency throughout the lifecycle of the undertaking (PMI, 2013). For the AAE Project, analogous and parametric estimating was utilized in estimating the potential costs of the endeavor. Appendix T shows the cost breakdown of each activity within the project by separating the salaries, equipment/vendor costs, and vendor contract costs. Since
Includes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within an approved budget. Cost is a resource sacrificed or foregone to achieve a specific objective, or something given up in exchange. Costs are usually measured in monetary units, such as dollars. (Lecture no: 6)
‘’Cost performance on project s often poor, what are the possible causes of this and how can it be improved?’’
Using the inputs above combined with specialised tools and techniques, the CITIC Consortium came up with an outputted estimated cost to submit for the tender. These tools are as follows. High quality personnel were trained for estimates and the company (CITIC Consortium) had a finance department used for estimating projects (Chinyere,2013). This team was used throughout the whole project and because of their background in estimating, this meant that they had expert judgement on what activities could be done and for what price. Other techniques the team used include computer software which could generate estimates on prices using historical information and previous projects that the team had done (Chinyere, 2013). In regards to project cost management theory, analogous estimating and parametric estimating are seen to be better so using these might have given the company a better estimate on the Birds Nest Stadium project (Hueber, 2015).
In view of the importance of the budget to project management, this report has prepared the following budget summaries and further illustrates the different types of costs associated within the
Without accurate time and cost estimates project control is ineffective. Inaccurate estimates can make the difference between profit or loss.
Every company relies on accurate budget estimates in order to provide the correct amount of allocated dollars in a budget plan that the company develops. Most companies develop budgets that look at least two years into the future. Each company is different, however typically most expect their projected budgets to be within 10% less or 25% more of the projected budget (Schwalbe 281). In order to do this, managers must allocate project costs to individual work items over the lifetime of the project. Project managers will create a cost baseline (time-phased budget) in order to measure and monitor the performance of their projects over the projects duration. Any changes or updates that are needed should be changed and reflected in a newly updated budget. Real time budget updates are vital in order to avoid financial problems. Ultimately, budgeting provides a prediction of the projects funding requirements. This article will go into detail about the best practices of determining a budget, and how they can be innovated for a better approach in the future.
Let be the number of grade 9 oranges O.J. uses for bags, be the number of grade 9 oranges O.J. uses for juice, be the number of grade 6 oranges O.J. uses for bags, and be the number of grade 6 oranges O.J. uses for juice. The objective is to maximize the profit. For juice, the profit will be ($1.50$1.05)*( + ), and for bags, the profit will be ($0.50-$0.20)*( + ). Thus, the total profit will be . The objective function is: Maximize The constraints are: Constraint 1: The total number of grade 9 oranges is 100,000 lb. That is, Constraint 2: The total number of grade 6 oranges is 120,000 lb. That is, Constraint 3: The average quality of juice is at least 8. That is, This gives us: Constraint 4: The average quality of juice is at least
Muddled is an ACFI2003 student and as many others has problems with several aspects of the course including a fundamental principle, the differences in the costing systems and cost management systems. The purpose of this essay is help Muddled understand the fundamental costing principle that management systems should reflect the fact that different costs are relevant for different purposes, and how this principle affects the way that job costing and process costing systems are designed. Along the way several costing concepts will be explained and laid out for Muddled to understand in a more simplified method. The axiom will be covered first with particular reference to the costing systems, the differences between the job
Project Cost Management – controlling the cost of the project, which includes estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, and managing costs of each task.
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.