Effective Project Budgeting and Cost Management

Introduction:

Effective Project Budgeting and Cost Management are crucial components of successful project execution and delivery. This course focuses on understanding and implementing strategies for managing project timelines and budgets. Participants will explore the intricacies of scheduling methodologies, cost estimation techniques, and financial control processes. The course aims to equip participants with the skills needed to effectively plan, monitor, and control project schedules and costs, ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget.

Objectives:

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Develop and manage project schedules using various methodologies.
• Accurately estimate project costs and manage budgets.
• Apply cost control techniques to monitor and manage project expenditures.
• Utilize project scheduling tools to improve time management.
• Integrate cost management practices with project planning and execution.
• Identify and mitigate risks associated with project scheduling and cost management.
• Evaluate project performance through effective use of financial and scheduling metrics.

Training Methodology:

• Procedure for Interactivity via the Internet
• Online Conferences
• Scientific Forums
• Peer Evaluations
• Personal Tests
• Problem Sessions
• Problems in Practice

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Business Emphasis of Financial Management

• Making sense of financial accounting.
• Misinformation about management accounting and financial accounting.
• The concept of management and finance.
• Why is planning, especially budgeting, important?
• What is the relevance of cost management in an organization?
• Several tips for working capital management.

Unit 2: Capital Budgeting: Making Decisions on Investment Opportunities

• Understanding time value of money.
• Appraisal Techniques: Understanding Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback period.
• Appraising an investment center technique.
• Sensitivity analysis for project evaluation.
• Management of capital projects.
• Implementing a Capital Budgeting Process.

Unit 3: The Relationship Between Cost and Output, Cost Management, and Planning: Activity-Based System

• Analysis of cost structure and cost behavior.
• Relationship in outputs and costs: costing/volume/prices.
• Identifying contribution margin.
• Break-even analysis: Its importance in planning and procedure.
• Apportionment of costs.
• Costing differential and benefit-cost.

Unit 4: Operational Costing, Direct Costing, and Activity-Based Costing: Advanced Management Accounting Perspectives

• Differences between full and marginal costing.
• Cost elements in decision budgeting.
• Impact of costs in price formulations.
• Activity-based costing.
• Cost control management.

Unit 5: Budget Construction and Control

• Specificity and aim of budgets as a management function.
• Kinds of budgets and budgeting.
• Formulation of key performance indicators in financial and non-financial performance.
• Preparation of the budget.
• Budgetary control with two-way analysis of variances.
• Budgeting and management for less obvious aspects: the balanced scorecard approach.