Accounting Foundations: Cost Estimating
1h 15mIntermediate2021-03-17
Authors

Ajay Pangarkar
Workplace Performance Strategist, Speaker, Author, Thought Leader
Course details
It may seem counterintuitive to think that costs actually add value to a project. However, accurately projecting your costs and the resources they’re actually costing can determine the overall success of your project or investment. In this course, CPA Ajay Pangarkar shows you how to develop a cost estimate for all types of organizations. When major decisions need to be made, stakeholders want as much information as possible, and Ajay covers topics like looking at the various data types associated with cost estimating, how to report cost estimates, and tips for keeping the cost estimate accurate by validating data. After completing this course, you’ll be able use cost estimates to deliver more value in your projects, and do so within the cost limitations imposed by company leadership.
Skills covered
Project Management SkillsProject ManagementDeep Dive (X:Y)
Concepts
Introduction
- Purpose for cost estimates
Fundamentals for Cost Estimating
- Cost vs. cost estimates
- Types of data Technical and programmatic
- Types of data Quantitative and qualitative
- Properly contextualizing data
Setting the Cost-Estimating Stage
- Establishing credible cost estimates
- Obtaining realistic budget estimates
- The work breakdown structure
Cost-Estimate Approaches
- Cost-estimate approaches An overview
- Top-down approach
- Analogous approach
- Parametric approach
- Three-point estimating
- Engineering build-up approach
Data Collection for Estimates
- The data collection process
- Data credibility and normalization
- Elements of persuasive estimates
Data Quality Considerations
- Managing costs
- Relationships among cost value and performance
Conclusion
- Where to go from here