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1.1 Cost Management:: Data Analysis
1.1 Cost Management:: Data Analysis
– What guidelines do we follow for using Earned Value Analysis? (e.g. Earned Value
Techniques, measuring the Control Accounts)
– If applicable, the Cost Management Plan links to other procedures & documents (e.g. WBS)
– Units, used for reporting: hours, days, weeks, etc
2. Direct
Costs – Costs which can be ‘directly’ associated with the project (Example:
Labor, Equipment, Material)
3. Indirect
Costs – Costs which are not directly tied to a specific project. (Example:
overhead costs)
Purpose: Estimating how much it costs for each resource used in the project
ITTO Analysis: Estimate Costs
1) What do You Need? (Input)
– Project Management Plan, Project Documents, EEF/OPA
>> Project Management Plan: Cost and Quality Mgmt Plan, Scope
Baseline
>> Project Documents: Lessons Learned & Risk Register, Schedule, Resource
Requirements
2. As you progress throughout the stages of a project, your estimates will become MORE
ACCURATE. At the beginning, estimates will have a wide tolerance range, and will follow
a very high-level ‘top down’ approach.
As you progress through the project and you gain more knowledge, this estimate will become
more accurate into a ‘bottom-up’ estimate
3. At the very beginning, your estimates will not be as accurate and therefore, have a Rough
Order of Magnitude (ROM Estimate, typically with a range of -25% to +75%. (meaning
25% less to more than 75% over the estimate).
4. At later stages of the project, your estimates will tighten down to an accuracy of -5% to
+10%.
Key Terms to Remember:
1. Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) Estimate- A rough, high-level estimate that
typically has a range of -25% to +75% over the estimate.
2. Definitive Estimate – A more accurate estimate than the ROM Estimate, and is
typically between -5% to +10% over the Estimate.
3. Contingency Reserve – Are a part of the cost baseline & budget; May account for a
certain % of the activity’s estimated cost (Example: Rework costs for a project
deliverable)
4. Management Reserves – These reserves are allocated for the “Unknown unknowns”
and unplanned work.
5. Cost Estimates – Estimates for the costs required for physical labor, materials,
equipment, services, etc
Process #3: Determine Budget
1.3 Cost Management: Determine Budget (PL)
– Pg. 248, PMBOK 6th Edition
Purpose: Now that you’ve estimated the costs for each project activity from the WBS, it’s
time to determine the overall Project Cost Baseline.
This baseline will ultimately be what you measure your Team’s performance against throughout
the lifecycle of the project.
ITTO Analysis: Determine Budget
1) What do You Need? (Input)
– Agreements, Business Documents, Project Management Plan, Project Documents, EEF/OPA
>> Project Management Plan: *Cost Management Plan, Resource
Management Plan, *Scope Baseline
>> Project Documents: Estimates (Basis and Cost Estimates), Project
Schedule, Risk Register
>> Business Documents: Business Case, Benefits Mgmt Plan
**Reference page 255 of PMBOK Guide 6th Edition showing that Funding
Requirements is not typically uniformly distributed, and instead, occurs in a
step-like manner.
Process #4: Control Costs
1.4 Cost Management: Control Costs (M&C)
– Pg. 257, PMBOK 6th Edition
Purpose: Tracking the project’s status with regards to costs and ensuring that the cost baseline
is maintained throughout all stages of the project. You will be comparing all expenses spent to
the Planned Project Cost Baseline.
ITTO Analysis: Control Costs
1) What do You Need? (Input)
– *Project Funding Requirements, *Work Performance Data, Project
Management Plan, Project Documents, OPA
>> Project Management Plan: *Cost Mgmt Plan, Cost Baseline,
Performance Measurement Baseline
>> Project Documents: Lessons Learned Register
Technique that analyzes three core metrics of your project, for each work package and
control account:
(1) Planned Value, PV
– This corresponds to the monetary value associated with the work which has been “planned” to
be completed by a certain date/time
– A project’s Total
Planned Value = its Budget At Completion (BAC) Refer
to the Formula Guide for detail.
(2) Earned Value, EV
What is the ‘budgeted’ value for the work which has been completed so far? In other words, how
much have we ‘earned’ so far, for the work we’ve performed? Refer to the Formula
Guide for detail.
(3) Actual Cost, AC
For the work performed, how much did the work ‘actually’ cost? Refer to the Formula
Guide for detail.
(2) Cost Variance, CV
Are we over budget? Under budget? Or, on budget? Refer to the Formula Guide for
detail.
Cost Forecasts
(1) Estimate At Completion, EAC
EAC is an Estimate for the Project’s Total Cost, given the current work which has already been
performed. Refer to the Formula Guide for detail.
Other Variables
(1) Budget At Completion, BAC
– This can be thought of as the planned Overall Project Budget – how much we are planning to
spend to complete the project.
– Think of this as the Project’s Cost Baseline
Conclusion
Earned Value Analysis was one of the more trickier and challenging sections for me to
understand and fully master, and I hope this helps demystify and explain some of the key
elements that you might see on your CAPM Exam and PMP Exam.
I hope you found the above information helpful with your Project Management Exam Prep
Journey! If you found this useful, please feel free to SHARE and RECOMMEND this
website with a friend. My goal is to help other Project Managers pass their own CAPM and PMP
Exam, and become Certified in Project Management.
Cheers, Alvin