Know the final cost while you can still change it.
Cost control and forecasting that tracks commitments, actuals, changes and contingency in one place, and gives you a defensible estimate at completion every month. No surprises at the final pay application.
Where money disappears.
Budget, committed and spent all disagree
Three spreadsheets, three answers. When the CFO asks what the job will cost, the honest reply is a week of reconciliation.
Contingency drawn without a story
Money leaves contingency for reasons no one wrote down. By the time it runs low, nobody can say where it went.
Pending changes off the books
Potential change orders sit in email for months. The forecast ignores them until they arrive as signed, unbudgeted cost.
How we control cost.
- 01
One cost structure
Budget, commitments, invoices and changes all coded to the same WBS and cost codes as the schedule, so time and money reconcile.
- 02
Review every pay application
Each pay app is checked against schedule progress and the schedule of values. You pay for work in place, not work promised.
- 03
Forecast pending exposure
Potential changes, claims and known risks are priced and carried in the forecast before they are signed, not after.
- 04
Contingency with a ledger
Every drawdown is logged with a reason and an approver, and the remaining balance is tested against the remaining risk.
- 05
A monthly EAC you can defend
Estimate at completion built bottom-up from committed cost, remaining work and exposure, reconciled to the last period.
What you get.
Scoped to your project and delivered in native files your team owns.
Budget, commitments, actuals, approved and pending changes and EAC by package, on one page per level.
Billed progress checked against the schedule and site, with every question listed before you approve payment.
Every movement in and out with its reason and approver, plus a curve of remaining contingency against remaining risk.
Monthly spend projected from the cost-loaded schedule, so finance can plan draws and funding with confidence.
A defensible estimate at completion with the range and the drivers behind it, ready for your board.
What will this job really cost?
A common starting point: committed cost looks fine, contingency looks healthy, and forty potential change orders sit unpriced in a shared inbox. We price the exposure, rebuild the contingency ledger and give the CFO an EAC with a range around it. The first forecast is rarely good news. It is always better news than the final pay application.
- 1
- Cost structure with the schedule
- Every
- Pay app checked
- Monthly
- EAC with a range
See it in the work.
Confidential projects where these controls apply, and a live instrument you can run on the shared Controls Lab schedule.
Questions owners ask us.
Do we need new cost software?
Usually not. We work in the system you have, from Excel to an enterprise cost platform. If the system is the problem, our Controls Systems Implementation service can fix it.
Can you work for a contractor instead of an owner?
Yes. Builders use us for job cost forecasting, buyout tracking and change pricing. On any one project we work for one party only.
How early can you forecast the final cost?
From the first month, with a wide range. The range narrows as commitments are placed and work is put in place.
We run the same type of project every year. Is there a better rate?
Yes. Once the cost structure and reports exist, every repeat project starts from them. Ask about a Program Rate.
Related services
Get a final cost you can defend.
Share the project, the latest schedule and the date that matters. A senior project controls lead replies within one business day.