Cost Management

Cost is the most important factor in a Project that needs to be monitored and controlled for successful completion of the Projects. A Project can be said to be successful in every aspect only if it stays within the budget. Hence Project cost control becomes the primary objective of a Project manager during project execution. Project cost control procedures are primarily intended to identify deviations from the project plan rather than to suggest possible areas for cost savings, as the major cost savings can be achieved during planning and design for the project.

Project cost control facility in WRENCH SmartProject provides complete solution for cost control from budgeting, commitment management, change orders and cash flow for successful execution of projects. Since cost management is an integral part of Project Management, Cost Management facility in SmartProject is housed in the Project Module.

To manage project costs

In the Global menu click Modules and in the menu click Cost Management.

Cost Management window is displayed.

When Cost Management module is opened for the first time, Project ID will be blank.

Click the browse button to select a Project ID. List of Projects is displayed.
Select a Project from the list. Once the Project is selected, Project Cost Setting icon is displayed in the right top corner.

NOTE: Only the project users with ‘View Cost’ permission can view the Cost details of a project.

Figure: Cost Management window

In the cost management window following tabs are displayed.

Summary

Budget

Commitments/Receivables

Cash Flow

Cost Changes

By default Summary tab is selected.

NOTE: Summary tab will be visible for those users who have “View” permission configured in Modular Security or in Project.

Information on different cost related operations are mentioned in the following table.

Navigation table

To	See
Assign Security Rights	Assigning security to Project Resources
View Cost Summaries	Summary Tab
Create Budget Line Items	Creating Budget Line Items
Update or Edit Line Items	Updating Line Items
Remove Line Items	Removing Line Items
View Line Items	Viewing Line Items
Distribute Budgets	Distributing budgets
Distribute budgets manually	Distributing budgets manually
View distribution details	Viewing distribution details
Create and view cost baselines	Creating and viewing cost baselines
Compare baselines	Comparing baselines
Create Commitments	Creating Commitments
Update Commitments	Updating Commitments
Import, Export Commitments	Importing, Exporting and Updating Commitments
Define Payment Terms	Defining Payment Terms
Distribute Payment Terms	Distributing Payment Terms
Distribute Payment Terms Manually	Distributing Payment Terms Manually
Manage Invoices	Managing Invoices
Bulk Distribute Payment Terms	Distributing Payment Terms in bulk
Create and Manage Budget Change Orders	Creating and Managing Budget Change Orders
Create and Manage Commitment Change Orders	Creating and Managing Commitment Change Orders
Create Budget Change Request	Creating Budget Change Request
Create Commitment Change Request	Creating Commitment Change Request
Create Receivables	Managing Receivables
Update Receivables	Updating Receivables
Distribute Payment Schedules	Distributing Payment Schedules
Manage Receivable Invoices	Managing Receivable Invoices
Bulk Import of Receivable Invoices	Importing Invoices in Bulk
Import, Export and Update Receivables	Importing, Exporting and Updating Receivables
Export receivable details	Exporting receivable details