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Project Management

PART III: Financial Oversight and Daily Execution

Session 5: Financial Tracking and Budget Management

Course Code: PM-05
Goal: Monitor project performance against budgeted costs, ensuring visibility into financial health at every stage of project execution.

Session Overview

Duration: 1 Hour
Format: Instructor-led (via Microsoft Teams or in-person)
Level: Intermediate to Advanced (Ideal for project managers, finance coordinators, and operations leads)

Resources Provided:

  • Financial Summary Dashboard Guide
  • Cost Category Breakdown Sheet
  • Estimate vs. Actual Reporting Templates
  • Cost Recording Process Map

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the differences between financial summaries and detailed views.
  • Classify project costs by Labor, Material, Subcontractor, and Other Expenses.
  • Monitor Estimate vs. Actual cost tracking for project control.
  • Recognize how and when costs are recorded in the project lifecycle.

Session Agenda

PM5.1 Financial Summary vs. Detailed Views
  • Overview of Project Financial Dashboard.
  • Summary screen: high-level tracking of margins, revenue, costs.
  • Detail screen: line-item breakdown by category and phase.
PM5.2 Cost Types: Labor, Material, Subcontractor, Expenses
  • Define cost categories:
    • Direct Labor (in-house or subcontracted)
    • Materials and Equipment Purchases
    • Subcontractor invoices
    • Other Direct Costs (ODCs)
  • Importance of proper cost classification for profitability analysis.
PM5.3 Estimate vs. Actual Tracking
  • Compare original project estimates vs. real-time actuals.
  • Variance reporting:
    • Under-budget trends
    • Overruns and alerts
  • Early identification of financial risks.
PM5.4 Understanding How and When Cost is Recorded
  • Timing of cost capture:
    • Timesheet entry for labor
    • Purchase orders and receipt logs for materials
    • Subcontractor billing events
  • Best practices for timely and accurate cost logging.

Hands-On Preview (Optional if time allows)

  • Open a sample project.
  • Review Financial Summary and drill into Detail view.
  • Compare Estimate vs. Actuals for labor and material.

Post-Session Action Items

  • Audit 2-3 active projects for cost entry timeliness.
  • Create internal standard for cost classification.
  • Setup weekly cost-to-complete reviews for PM teams.

 Note: When scheduling, make sure to include this session code: PM-05.

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