Project Cost Management

The integrated nature of TrackerSuite.Net modules for projects, time and expense, purchasing and reporting simplify the process of project cost management.

Organizations typically face several difficulties in containing and managing the cost of projects. These difficulties include:

• Tying costs to project work in a meaningful way.
• Ensuring that incurred costs are authorized.
• Tracking costs in a timely manner.
• Weighing the actual cost of the project against its benefits, its value or potential income.

TrackerSuite.Net, a modular suite of Web based workflow applications, simplifies the management and tracking of project costs by providing integrated solutions for online project management, Web timesheets and expense reports, purchasing and reporting.

Following is an overview of how TrackerSuite.Net resolves these difficulties facing project cost management efforts.

Tying Costs to Project Work

Within TrackerSuite.Net, projects and tasks are assigned account codes. These account codes allow organizations to identify and separate work effectively, including capital from non-capital labor, or research and development activities for R&D tax credit capture. When an employee completes a timesheet, expense report or purchase order, the labor or expenditures are tied directly to these account codes by line item.

Ensuring that Incurred Costs are Authorized

All timesheets, expense reports and purchase orders are automatically routed through the approval process, with activity logs recording the time and date of every form activity, from creation through approval and final processing, with the electronic signature of the responsible party. TrackerSuite.Net supports proxy approval workflows in case of absences, as well as multiple approval workflows for purchase requests based on purchase type, department rules and spending limits.

Tracking Costs in a Timely Manner

Within TrackerSuite.Net, project managers and executives are a click away from viewing current project budget and cost data. Managers and administrators can take advantage of administrative views of all timesheets, purchase orders and expense reports in the system and their status. The Tracker Data Warehouse, a Web based reporting engine, provides real time reports including Budget vs. Actual and Activity Ledgers, based on date pushed from the other TrackerSuite.Net modules.

Weighing the Cost of a Project

Project Tracker.Net provides useful earned value management tools and views, which executives and managers can leverage to track and identify planned/actual variances in project cost and schedules, as well as estimates to complete.