Keeping expenses and schedule status in-sync can be a nightmare even in moderate sized CPM Networks. In this type of environments, it’s possible to have an independent Cost Engineer and Schedule Engineer responsible for developing and maintaining expenses and schedule making this effort even more complicated.
In an ideal situation, expenses and schedule status are In-Sync when:
1) An activity has not started, and the Expense Actual Cost to-date is 0;
2) An activity is in-progress, and the Expense Actual Cost To-Date is be between 0 and the Budgeted Cost
3) An activity is complete, and the Expense Remaining Cost is 0.
Obviously, the ideal situation is rare and in some instances, can even be justified. Regardless, when schedule and expense status get Out-of-Sync, these instances should be identified, reviewed and adjusted accordingly.
There are 4 Out-of-Sync possibilities: (See illustration below)
1) Expense Actual Costs exist on activities that have not started.
2) There is Expense Remaining Cost on activities that are complete.
3) There is no Expense Remaining Cost on activities that are in-progress.
4) There is no Expense Actual Cost on activities that are in-progress.
Zümmer checks for Possibility #1 with Analysis Report #48 – “Actual Expenses On Not Started Tasks” illustrated below.
Zümmer checks for Possibility #2 with Analysis Report #49 – “Remaining Expenses On Completed Tasks” illustrated below.
Zümmer checks for Possibility #3 with Analysis Report #50 – “No Remaining Expenses on Tasks in Progress” illustrated below.
Zümmer checks for Possibility #4 with Analysis Report #51 – “No Actual Expenses on Tasks in Progress” illustrated below.
Each report lists the Activity ID, Activity Name, Budgeted Expense, Actual Expense and Remaining Expense value. Line Items are highlighted when an unbalanced condition occurs. Unbalanced conditions occur when the Budgeted Expense is not equaled to the Actual Expense plus the Remaining expense value.
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