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Project Cost Management

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Overview of Project Cost Management

According to an accounting textbook, cost is defined as a resource sacrificed or foregone to achieve a specific objective. It is something given up in exchange. It is necessary for project managers to understand project cost management since project costs money and consumes resources.

There are reasons for project cost overrun and these are as follows: * Not emphasizing the importance of realistic project cost estimates from the outset. IT project cost estimates are low to start with or based on unclear project requirements. * Many IT professionals think that preparing cost estimates is a job for accountants when in fact, it is a very demanding and important skill that project managers need to acquire. * Many IT projects involve new technology or business processes that involve untested products and inherent risks.

Project cost management involves the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within an approved budget. These processes are as follows: * Estimate costs * Determine budget * Control costs

As project managers, understanding the basic principles of cost management is a must in order for them to be effective in managing project costs. Important concepts include profits and profit margins, life cycle costing, cash flow analysis, internal rate of return, tangible and intangible costs and benefits, direct costs, sunk costs and learning curve theory.

Profits are revenues minus expenses. A company can increase revenues, decrease expenses, or try to do both in order to increase profits. While a profit margin is the ratio of the revenues to profits.

Life cycle costing allows you to take a big picture view of the cost of a project over its entire life. This helps you develop a more accurate projection of a project’s financial benefits. Life cycle costing considers the

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