Cost Control

Abstract

Cost control is essential to project management. It is often a general assumption that as it is a part of the “iron triangle”, with the two other sides being time and quality, the two latter mentioned cannot be changed without changing the cost of the project. However, measures can be taken to control cost, even in projects which deviate from the original plan, but it is a discipline which draws on a great number of other tools and procedures from project management. These tools are Scope, Planning and scheduling, WBS, Estimations of costs and more. Mastering the involved tools and strategies will give a great opportunity to correctly estimate costs in all phases throughout the project and help retake control of the cost if the project changes. Both examples of projects with and without major changes will be dealt with. In this article, the basic concepts related to establishing cost control is evaluated as well “Project Control Academy”s Top-5 suggestions to skills of a Cost Controller. These include (1) “Knowledgable in Total Cost Management Concepts & Terminologies”, (2) “Knows how to allocate budget and establish Cost Baseline”, (3) “Knows Earned Value management”, (4) “Can analyze and communicate cost report” and (5) Proficient in Excel. For the latter part, the Top-5 suggestions, a minor survey among various project managers was (will be) conducted to assess the relevance of these skills to cost control and the results are presented in this work.