Chapter 23 Monitoring and Controlling Cost

TOPICS COVERED

Control Costs

Control Costs is the process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and managing changes to the cost baseline. A significant part of controlling costs is comparing the status of deliverables and the cost of those deliverables. While this seems like common sense, many people just look at the budget for a particular point in time and compare the planned expenditures to what was actually spent without looking at the actual accomplishments achieved for the amount spent. If there is a variance in the amount expended to the accomplishments achieved you should investigate the cause.

Based on the current spending profile, upcoming events, and pending risks you can develop a forecast for future funding needs. If current spending or projected future spending exceeds the authorized funding amount a change request will be required.

Figure 23-1 shows the inputs, tools and techniques and outputs for the Control Costs process. Figure 23-2 shows a data flow diagram for the Control Costs process.

Figure 23-1 Control Costs: Inputs, Tools and Techniques, Outputs

Source: PMBOK® Guide—Fifth Edition