Day 1: Cost Estimation and Budget Development

Estimating Practical Approaches

• Compare analogous parametric and bottom-up estimation
• Choose methods according to scope maturity
• Document assumptions and price sources
• Estimate work package through three methods

Building the Cost Baseline

• Connect costs to work packages/schedule
• Distribute expenditure across time periods
• Separate the baseline from management reserve
• Build a project cost curve

Reserves and Uncertainty

• Connect contingency reserve with identified risks
• Set rules governing reserve use
• Avoid hiding weak estimates inside reserves
• Review budget under a risk scenario

Day 2: Monitoring, Performance, and Forecasting

Tracking Expenditure and Commitments

• Distinguish paid committed and forecast amounts
• Reconcile financial data with work progress
• Identify items consuming budget too early
• Prepare a monthly cost report

Earned Value Fundamentals

• Connect planned/earned value with cost
• Calculate cost variance and performance index
• Interpret indicators within project context
• Solve cost-and-schedule performance cases

Estimate at Completion

• Use actual performance to update forecast
• Compare continuation and improvement scenarios
• Assess financial risk effects on cost
• Prepare an updated cost forecast

Day 3: Protecting the Budget and Taking Action

Analyzing Overrun Causes

• Distinguish price, productivity, and scope effects
• Segment variance by package and resource
• Identify the cause dominating the forecast
• Build cause tree for an overrun

Financial Change Control

• Estimate cost impact before approving change
• Update the baseline after formal decisions
• Document reserve and funding use
• Simulate a cost change control board

Budget Protection Laboratory

• Compare reduction and resequencing options
• Measure option impact on value/quality
• Select an executable financial intervention
• Present recommendation to the project sponsor

• Estimating and budgeting exercises around work packages
• Simplified cost and earned-value calculations
• Change reserve and forecast scenarios
• Decision laboratory balancing budget and value