Managing Project Costs and Budgets

The achievement of successful project delivery is directly underpinned by focus and attention on the effective and efficient management of the financial dynamic. The project environment is uncertain and project teams must operate, not only within this uncertainty, but also subject to multiple constraints. Understanding that a project is subject to a complex series of interfaces between stakeholders and resources becomes critical.

All project activities have a cost, which may be either direct or indirect. They will all impact upon a projects’ budget from the perspective of consumption – i.e. as the project moves through its lifecycle, resources are allocated and utilized and money is spent, the budget therefore is subject to depletion. It is always a difficult question to determine whether or not a project is a success when it is over budget and late, yet the deliverables far outlast the original expectation.

This course will provide the participant with an effective set of skills and knowledge that will allow them to manage the dynamic project cost function. Through these skills and new knowledge, the delegate will acquire the ability to implement the application of techniques that will contribute directly to more efficient project financial management processes.

The course does not focus on number crunching – it is designed to lead the participants on a journey of understanding of the centrality of the cost management function, to familiarize the participant with the interactions and processes that underpin and ultimately inform the cost based activities within projects. The delivery is completely interactive and there is a large element ofpractical exercise that allows participants to grasp the interrelationships between cost; project lifecycle and operational activities.

This imparts to participants the wider or ‘holistic’ picture upon which the process of successful project delivery is built.