Chapter 9 - How to Assign and Manage CostsIntroduction Assign a Rate to a Resource Specify Default Standard and Overtime Rates Assign More Than One Rate to a Resource Assign Different Ra
Trang 1Chapter 9 - How to Assign and Manage Costs
Introduction
Assign a Rate to a Resource
Specify Default Standard and Overtime Rates
Assign More Than One Rate to a Resource
Assign Different Rates to a Resource
Assign a Fixed Cost to a Task
Control How Resource Costs Are Accrued
Trang 2After you’ve entered and linked tasks, added task-duration estimates, and assigned resources, Microsoft Project can build an accurate project schedule for you That might be all the help you want or need to manage a
particular project But for projects in which it’s important to know how much money you’ll spend and when you’ll spend it, you can add cost information to your project plan You can also use this feature to help you estimate how much future projects will cost
When you add cost information to your plan, you can:
• Assign resource costs
• Determine the cost of each task
• Estimate the total project cost, which you can use to develop a budget
• View the cost to date of a specific task or of the project as a whole
• Control how costs are accrued
• Determine whether you can hire extra resources to accelerate the schedule — without going over budget
Where do costs come from? In many projects, the effort to accomplish tasks takes the biggest bite out of the
budget The total cost of each task is equal to its variable costs (costs that change over time), plus its fixed costs (costs that stay the same over time) The most common variable cost is for paid resources, for example, a
painter who costs $15 per hour The longer the painter takes to paint a wall, the more that task is going to cost
A common fixed cost is the cost of materials The amount of paint (and thus the cost) required to paint a wall remains the same no matter how long the painter takes
To monitor costs effectively, you should first assign rates to resources You’ll assign hourly rates to some
resources and per-use costs to others An example of a per-use cost is the flat amount you pay each time you
rent equipment or office space If a resource works on two or more different types of tasks, each one requiring a different set of skills, you can assign that resource a different rate for each task You can also specify pay
increases (or decreases) that go into effect at a particular time When you’ve finished assigning resource costs and materials costs, and you’ve assigned resources to tasks, Microsoft Project can show you the total project cost From that estimate, you can develop a project budget
As your project progresses, you might want to know how much a specific task has cost so far Microsoft Project helps you determine this by giving you a choice of methods for accruing costs
Trang 3Assign a Rate to a Resource
The first step in tracking costs is to assign a rate to each resource Resource rates can be hourly or fixed For hourly rates, you can assign a standard rate, which is the rate you pay a resource during normal working hours You can also assign an overtime rate, which is the rate you pay a resource who works longer than the normal working hours To some resources, you’ll assign a fixed cost per use; for example, a contractor may always charge a flat amount to do a particular job
You can also assign both a fixed cost-per-use rate and an hourly rate For example, you might pay a $50 delivery setup charge for rental equipment each time you use it, in addition to an hourly charge
To assign a rate to a resource
1 On the View Bar, click Resource Sheet
2 In the Std Rate, Ovt Rate, and Cost/Use fields for the resource, type the rates that apply, and then
click or press ENTER
Specify Default Standard and Overtime Rates
When resources you’re about to add to your project plan get paid the same hourly rate, you can save time by letting Microsoft Project enter the standard and overtime rates for you You do this by specifying default standard and overtime rates before you enter new resources
These default pay rates apply only to the resources you’ve added after you enter the rate Thus, you can specify
a different default pay rate for each new set of resources For example, you can specify a default pay rate, which Microsoft Project applies to the next set of resources you add Then, you can change the default pay rate, which Microsoft Project applies to any resources you add but not to the first set of resources
To assign a rate to a resource
1 On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab
2 In the Default standard rate box, enter the new rate
3 In the Default overtime rate box, enter the new rate
4 Click Set as Default
5 To change the default currency symbol and number of decimal digits, click the View tab, and then change the information under Currency
Assign More Than One Rate to a Resource
If you assign a resource to several tasks requiring different payment schedules, you can enter different rates into
that resource’s rate tables Microsoft Project then applies the correct rate to each task the resource works on
Before you can assign additional rates to a resource, the resource must be on your resource list
To assign more than one rate to a resource
1 On the View Bar, click Resource Sheet
2 In the Resource Name field, select a resource, and then click Resource Information
3 Click the Costs tab
The default cost rate table, A, is on top If you don’t specify which of a resource’s cost rate tables to use for a task, Microsoft Project uses cost rate table A by default
4 In the Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, and Per Use Cost fields, type the rates for the resource
You can also enter the date on which these rates become effective
5 Click another cost rate tab, and then repeat step 4
To apply a specific pay rate to a task assignment
1 On the View Bar, click Task Usage
2 In the Task Name field, select the resource whose pay rate you want to change for the associated task
3 Click Assignment Information
Trang 44 Click the General tab
5 In the Cost rate table box, click the rate table you want to use for this resource on this task
Assign Different Rates to a Resource
To allow for changes in resource rates, such as pay increases or decreases, you can assign different rate values
to be applied at times you specify
To assign different rates to a resource
1 On the View Bar, click Resource Sheet
2 In the Resource Name field, select the resource for which you want to enter different rates
3 Click Resource Information , and then click the Costs tab
The default cost rate table, A, is on top If you don’t specify which of a resource’s cost rate tables to use for a task, Microsoft Project uses cost rate table A by default
4 In the Cost rate tables, type the effective date and the new standard, overtime, or per-use-cost rate in
the corresponding fields of the first blank row
Assign a Fixed Cost to a Task
When you know exactly how much the materials will cost for a task, or you’re not assigning resources to the
task, enter a fixed cost A fixed cost might be the cost of supplies for which you’ve already negotiated a
purchase price It could also be a bid you accepted from an outside contractor or the flat rate you always pay for
a job
To assign a fixed cost to a task
1 On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart
2 On the View menu, point to Table, and then click Cost
3 In the Fixed Cost field, select the task, and then type the cost
4 Click or press ENTER
Control How Resource Costs Are Accrued
How do you want to account for resource costs? Do you want to incur the full cost of a resource when it starts? When it ends? Or would you prefer to incur the cost gradually, over the entire time a resource works on a
project?
Microsoft Project provides you with two commonly used cost-accounting methods You can accrue resource costs,
or you can prorate them When you accrue a cost, you incur the entire cost all at once When you prorate a cost,
you incur the cost gradually, as the task progresses For example, you can:
• Accrue the cost of a resource when the task starts if you must pay a lump-sum amount before any work begins
• Prorate the cost of a resource if you need to track cost based on the completion of a task Standard and overtime resource costs can be prorated By default, Microsoft Project prorates resource costs
• Accrue the cost of a resource when the task ends if you’re holding payment until the work is finished
To select a method for accruing resource costs
1 On the View Bar, click Resource Sheet
2 In the Resource Name field, select a resource, and then click Resource Information
3 Click the Costs tab
4 In the Cost accrual box, click an accrual method
o To accrue the cost when the task begins, click Start
o To accrue the cost based on the completion percentage of the task, click Prorated
o To accrue the cost when the task is completed, click End