Week 5 dated 14 July 2006 - Chapter 5 Estimating Project Times and Costs

Project is the activities, which concern to using resources for future benefit. It is transformation unit for transform inputs to outputs, inputs are production cost and outputs are expected product or benefit of project.

On Friday 14 July 2006, we learn about estimating project times and costs. Usually, we will estimate on 3 factors such as time and cost for completing project, task for balancing the expectations of stakeholders and controlling while project implementation. Estimating project times and costs will make decision support to us that the project is worth doing or not because its estimating show schedule of work, time for taking the project and cost, cash flow, how well the project is progressing, time phased budgets and establish the project baseline.

            Top-down and bottom-up are types of estimate of the project; from the previous experience, we estimate task by work breakdown structure by top-down method base on functional/grouping/relationships, and estimate time/cost by bottom-up the element on work breakdown structure. The accuracy of estimation will belong to the details of work breakdown structure and arrangement interrelationship between tasks. Suitable resources assignment to work package will optimize between cost and time schedule.

Costing estimating, consider about direct costs, direct project overhead costs, and general/administrative overhead costs.

·        Direct costs are costs that charge direct to work package such as material, equipment, and labor.

·        Direct project overhead costs are costs that charge for the project deliverable such as salary, rents, and facility.

·        General/administrative overhead costs are costs that charge from relative organization over to the project such as cost of advertising, cost for executive from head office, and also cost for employees who take care financial/account system at head office.