Cost Breakdown Structure
Cost Breakdown Structure
Lesson Objective
Upon successful completion of this module, you will have a good understanding of the various cost estimation techniques, different types of costs and the cost breakdown structure.
Effort required – 15 minutes
Lesson Introduction
Completing the projects within budget is a subject of very high interest for project managers. Unfortunately. cost over runs continues to be very common.
As per recent Economic times report;
360 infra projects show cost overruns of Rs 3.88 lakh crores The average time overrun in 550 delayed projects is 39.24 months. “Total original cost of implementation of the 1608 projects was Rs 19,17,796.07 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 23,05,860.33 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 3,88,064.26 crore (20.23% of original cost).
This sounds ridiculous, is in’t?.
List of root causes contributing to schedule and budget overruns.
Root cause#1. Inaccurate cost estimation and budgeting
Inaccurate cost estimation and budgeting is one of the main root causes of project cost overruns. Once the budgeted costs are lower than what is really required, the recovery is very difficult. The only way out is re-estimation, and re-budgeting, which is a long drawn out process, especially for infrastructure projects based on fixed price bids. Why is this so?.
Projects are progressively elaborated, so are budgets. The expected accuracy of estimates increases as the project progresses. When the project is in evaluation stage a Rough Order of Magnitude estimate (ROM) will serve the purpose. The expected accuracy levels of rough order of magnitude estimates are between -15 to +75 percentage. During project portfolio planning a Budgetary estimate is required. The expected accuracy level of budgetary estimates are between -15 to +15 percentage. During the planning phase of the project, one need the most accurate estimates known as Definitive estimates whose expected accuracy level is between -5 to +5 percentage. Definitive estimates are based on detailed Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). While budgetary estimates are possible with high levels of work breakdown structures, for definitive estimates one need detailed work breakdown structures meeting the 8-80 rule. Unfortunately, fixed price contracts are signed much before the preparation of the detailed work breakdown structures with the required granularity. Hence budgetary estimates gets labelled as definitive estimates.
Very often, estimation team fails to factor in appropriate overheads into the engineering and construction costs before finalizing the project budget. One has to bear in mind the following while estimating cost and budgeting. Error in judgment of any of these components will impact the budgeting process negatively.
- Cost + Contingency costs + Management reserves = budget
- Budget + Profit = Price (quoted)
If the quoted price itself is lower than the budget, then it is only a matter of time before the actual cost exceeds the planned cost.
Root cause#2. Inadequate cost monitoring and control systems
Recently, I was shocked to see the pathetic state of spread sheet-based planning and tracking system of a very large infrastructure project where well known global giants are stakeholders. Automated real time progress monitoring based on earned value management principles is what is needed.
Root cause#3. Improper vendor selection
Very often price is the primary determinant while choosing vendors / sub-contractors. In the process the quality aspects takes a back seat. Previous track record and the processes followed must carry equal weightage on par with price. Another aspect is the transparency of the selection process.
Root cause#4. Improper contract types
If the scope is absolutely clear, then fixed price contracts will work perfectly. For this we need definitive estimates based on work breakdown structures of high level of detail. If the scope is not very clear, then cost reimbursable contracts are a better choice.
Root cause#5. Lack of professional ethics
Lack of professional ethics is a milder way of addressing ‘CORRUPTION’ which shadows every aspect of many projects which are lagging behind both schedule wise and cost wise.
Having said that, let us focus on how to improve the accuracy of project cost estimation and budgeting.
Here are the three steps to accurate Project Cost Estimation and Budgeting
- Plan Cost management
- Estimate costs
- Determine budget
Step#1 – Plan Cost Management
How do we manage project costs? The Project’s Cost Management Plan addresses the ‘How’ part of cost management. The best way to understand the planning of cost management is to analyse the contents of the cost management plan.
Contents of Cost management plan
1.1 Units of Measure
For most of the I.T projects, cost is synonymous with effort. So is the case with most of the knowledge work intensive projects. The biggest cost driver in such projects is the time of the knowledge worker. Generally, Engineering and design intensive projects falls into this category. Projects where the highest cost drivers are material and equipment, accounting happens in currency.
1.2 Level of Precision
How will we round off the digits in cost related calculations?. Though sounds simple, the cumulative impact is very high. The rules for rounding off the digits must be decided at the beginning of the project. This is applicable for other measurements as well.
1.3 Level of Accuracy
There are budgets of varying levels of accuracy like ball park, approximate, budgetary and definitive. During the conception phase of projects stakeholders work with ball parks and approximate estimates as the scope is not well developed during this phase. In the organization’s budgeting phase we depend on the budgetary estimates of the upcoming projects. During planning and execution phases of the project we rely on definitive estimates. The expected accuracy levels of definitive estimates are within plus or minus five percentage. In order to develop definitive estimates one need detailed scope. It is impossible to arrive at definitive estimates without the help of detailed work breakdown structures.
1.4 Organizational Procedures
As discussed already, the budgeting is directly linked to the work packages. Work packages are the lowest level in the WBS. Each work package is associated with a control account. In order to monitor budget vs actual data, these control accounts act as the key. Organizational procedures and guidelines govern the definition and allocation of control accounts and the accounting of budgets and actuals.
1.5 Control Thresholds
When will you say yes and no when it comes to project budget and cost related decision making?. When will you escalate decision making?. Some project managers are risk averse and will not take even small risks. They keep escalating even the smallest risk. Where as some others are high risk takers and will not escalate even the major ones. Both are not desirable behaviors. If the cost overrun crosses ten percentage above the budgeted, then escalate it to sponsor else you decide is a good example of control threshold definition.
1.6 Rules of Performance Measurement
For progress reporting, organizations follow their own rules of credit. Some of the most common definitions are 0-100 which considers the work as earned only when it is hundred percentage complete. A 50-50 rule suggests that work can be considered as fifty percentage completed when it has started and the remaining fifty percentage will be considered as completed only when the remaining fifty percentage is fully completed. If nothing is specified, it is assumed that percentage completion is the rule where someone literally measures the actual work completed as a percentage of the planned work.
1.7 Reporting formats
How are we going to present the budget Vs actual?. One of the most popular format is the ‘S-curve’ where the actual cost is plotted against the planned budget. The same can be shown in a tabular form.
S curve depicting schedule variance and cost
Step#2 – Estimate Costs
The cost management plan is ready. Next logical step to budgeting is cost estimation. Here are the list of tools and techniques used for project cost estimation;
2.1 Analogous Estimation
How many of you have taken the effort to see how much was the actual cost of a past similar project or activity , before embarking on a similar new project or task?. I am sure almost everyone would have checked a previous similar work’s cost before estimating the cost of a new similar activity. Estimation based on comparison with a past similar activity is known as analogous estimation. While performing analogous estimation one must validate the similarity of the past similar activity with the task under estimation.
2.2 Parametric Estimation
Have you ever heard about the term ‘cost per square feet’?. Cost per square feet is widely used in construction industry. Cost per square feet is calculated by taking an average of the actual cost incurred per square feet from past similar projects. In software testing very often we hear the term ‘Defects per hundred hours of testing’ which is arrived at from historical testing data. Parametric estimation is more accurate than the analogous estimation.
2.3 Bottom Up Estimation
As the project progresses, we gain more insight into the projects. When we have sufficient details, we can do the bottom up estimate. That is to say, when we know the activities within a work package, we add up the individual activities estimates and compare with the top down estimate of the parent work package. Then we can add up the work package level costs to arrive at the module level and then to the project level.
2.4 Three Point Estimation
From the Optimistic, Pessimistic and Most likely values are estimated, a single point estimate estimate is worked out by applying any one of the formulas;
- (O+M+P)/3
- (O+4M+P)/6
In multiple projects, I have successfully applied combination of Delphi and three point very successfully. Here are the steps;
- Expert team formation
- Shared details of the work
- Team members estimated Optimistic, Pessimistic and Most likely values
- Discussions to arrive at a single Optimistic, Pessimistic and most likely value
- Calculation of single point estimate using either;
- (O+M+P)/3
- (O+4M+P)/6
2.5 Reserve Analysis
Unforeseen things happen in projects. There fore one must always account for the unforeseen by adding time and money for contingencies. They are known as management reserves.
2.6 Cost Of Quality
Cost of quality (COQ) has two components. The Price of Conformance (POC) include all those activities we are performing to prevent problems from happening. Can you think of some examples?. The costs associated with right recruitment, training, reviews, process definition and implementation etc are examples of POC. The second component, Price of Non Conformance (PONC) contains all those unwanted costs which we could have avoided. Customer complaint handling, deviation from ideal, penalties paid, replacements etc falls into this category. How will the project team treat the COQ elements?. Good project budgets have elements of these factored in.
2.7 Type of Project Costs
Cost is classified as direct and indirect costs. Costs directly related to the work packages or activities are direct costs. Direct costs can be further classified into;
- Direct fixed – Direct costs which are fixed. Team’s salary which is not linked to output
- Direct variable – Direct costs which are proportional to the output. Material costs, Team incentives
Indirect costs are further classified into;
- Indirect fixed – Indirect costs which do not change with the output. Project manager’s salary.
- Indirect variable – Indirect costs which changes with the output. Power.
Step#3 – Determining Budget
3.1 Cost Aggregation
Now it is time to aggregate the costs and determine the budget. Every task in the project has a cost element and have start and end dates. Bottom up aggregation of cost from the task level to the work package level and to the project level yield the time phased cost budget of the project.
In general, project budget has three components;
- Management reserve – reserved for managing unknown risks. Management has the authority to sanction it.
- Activity / Work package costs – Cost of work. Supervisors have the authority to use it.
- Contingency costs – Reserved for managing known and known-unknown risks. Project manager has the authority to use it.
By factoring in Management reserves and contingency reserves to the cost baseline we arrive at the time phased budget of the project.
3.2 Historical Information Review
Historical information provides very valuable insights to estimation. These are very helpful while validating the project budgets. In the construction domain, the budget till foundation work completion is considered as accurate if the budgeted amount till the foundation is within 20% of the overall project cost.
If the requirements and design effort is within 30% of the overall project budget for a software development project it is considered as normal. In matured industries, heuristics are developed based on historical data. These are great inputs to validate time phased budgets.
3.3 Funding limit reconciliation
Funding the projects phase wise results in better cost control than end to end funding of the project. Always, the funds dispersed must be proportional to the progress accomplished. Funding risks are addressed better by ensuring that funds dispersed is directly proportional to the Budgeted Cost Of Work Performed (BCWP). In the earned value management vocabulary, budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) is also known at Earned Value (EV). As a rule of thumb, money dispersed must be proportional to the work completed.
3.4 Financing
From where to get the funding is the next challenge. Who will finance the project?. Timely funding is critical to successful completion of the project. Projects can have either a single sponsor or multiple sponsors. Proper financing will prevent projects from lagging behind due to lack of funds during the execution phase.
Summary
Arriving at the correct budget, management of the budget, ensuring the disbursement of funds based on project progress and then managing the project within the approved budget needs specialized skills, tools and techniques. One start with planning for cost management and develop the Cost Management Plan for the project. Actual Estimation of costs is performed by leveraging the detailed work breakdown structure. .
The tools and techniques used for estimation are included in the cost management plan. Once the costs are estimated, they are aggregated to arrive at the cost baseline and then the budget baseline.
List of tools and techniques used for Project cost estimation and budgeting
- Analogous estimation
- Parametric estimation
- Three point estimation
- Delphi technique
- Reserve analysis
- Top down estimation
- Bottom up estimation
- Cost of quality
- Historical data
- Funding limit reconciliation etc.
Application of appropriate estimation methods that suits best for your project and phase will help you to improve the accuracy and availability of project budgets.