10 tips for a successful project budget

Managing a project budget is a key stage of project management. It deals with the delicate part of expenditure and financial resources.

As a project manager, your goal is to ensure that all of your projects are completed. And, if you are unable to manage funds efficiently, you will risk not completing your projects.

Here are 10 tips for a successful project budget, as well as the advantages of using the right software to manage your project budget efficiently.

A project budget is part of a financial process that can be divided into three phases:

• cost estimation,established by referring to actual costs of similar projects if possible, it is linked to the estimated timeframe,
• project budgeting, budget is allocated according to the breakdown of the project,
• cost control. “NB: a popular calculation method used in project management is Earned Value Management or the S-curve. It is used to measure the progress of a project and anticipate the next steps by comparing forecasts with actions that are being carried out and their associated costs.”
  As a financial and realistic representation of your project, a project budget consists of listing, identifying, and classifying :
• expenses,
• the revenue you have acquired or is in the process of being acquired.

Planning and elaborating a strategy in advance will allow you to set a relevant project budget along with steps to review it constantly. This can then be used to monitor your project and see if it is being carried out successfully.

Thus, among his missions, a project manager must:

• assess the feasibility of the project (market study, make an estimate of the budget and available resources, etc.),
• set objectives,
• breakdown projects and schedule tasks,
• allocate human and material resources,
• identify risk factors,
• plan projects and schedules,
• create quotations and allocate project budget,
• present to management for validation, and make corrections if necessary,
• monitor the progress of the project,
• adjust schedules and budgets in real-time.

Here we focus on step 7, which, given its place, is a pivotal step between the strategic and operational phases.

Thanks to this forecasting tool, you can visualize the feasibility of your project upstream, make adjustments, and reach your targets or the expected margin.

A project budget can be used to:

• help in the decision-making process,
• consider several hypotheses for action, more or less ambitious,
• anticipate your future outcome,
• confront your desires with economic realities,
• apply for funding or partnerships,
• present a credible and viable project,
• regularly analyze and compare your PO with actual expenditure and income,
• adjust your project as needed.

Like any budget, it is divided into two columns: expenses and income, which are then divided into several categories.

Expenses

Expenses are calculated first, with the revenues being adjusted on the other side according to their amount.

Among the direct costs:

• the sum of the salaries of internal human resources in proportion to the number of (planned) hours dedicated to the project,

Calculation: gross salary + payroll and employer charges x hours worked x number of months or weeks (depending on whether it is a monthly or annual budget).

This is called a "full-time equivalent".

• Operating expenses (procurement, subcontracting),
• the cost of external labor multiplied by the duration of the intervention,
• the cost of purchasing or renting equipment specific to the project (e.g., supplies, paper, renting a training room),
• costs related to project communication (graphics, printing, costs related to dissemination, etc.),
• travel, meeting costs, etc.

Indirect costs

(for the cost of resources allocated to several projects, not exclusively to the project in question, shared by means of distribution keys) :

Here is an example:

To allocate the cost of rent, take the average occupancy time of the premises according to the size of each project, and distribute it as a percentage. If project 1 occupies the space, 20% of the time, project 2, 30% of the time and project 3, 50% of the time. Then 20% of the charges for rent, electricity, water, etc. should be allocated to project 1 and so on.

• Miscellaneous charges: water, electricity, telephone bills, rent and rental charges, insurance, maintenance of premises and equipment,
• management costs: salaries for services that are transversal to the company or outsourced (legal department, accounting department, security),
• taxes,
• financial expenses: bank loans, interest payable, premiums,
• communication costs,

Revenue

• product sales,
• service fees,
• subsidies,
• partnerships,
• self-financing,

Cost control

“NB: a popular calculation method used in project management is Earned Value Management or the S-curve. It is used to measure the progress of a project and anticipate the next steps by comparing forecasts with actions that are being carried out and their associated costs”

Here are 10 tips to help you create a successful project budget:

The investment analysis phase includes a calculation of the estimated return on investment (ROI), but also a forecast study of the cash flow. This is used to value the projects in the portfolio (PPM or Portfolio Project management, in the case where several projects are piloted in parallel).

A project budget can be used to diversify the funding sources (public, private, etc.) of associations that deal with requests for subsidies. Moreover, it can be used to reassure each investor. A share of self-financing is often added to make up the difference between the resources and the planned expenses to show the company's involvement.

It is impossible to look for a margin (not-for-profit nature), your target should simply be financial equilibrium. Moreover, an investor is not intended to help you generate profits, he or she is there to help you achieve a goal.

Regardless of the type of business involved, planning a project and diversifying the sources of funding can help offset the eventual withdrawal of one of them.

Estimate your "valued" expenses (lending equipment, rooms, volunteering). This is important for associations applying for a grant, or companies requesting the participation of a partner. You will often have to translate the amount requested into a percentage of the total project. If the room is valued, the total budget goes up, but the share requested from the funder goes down as a percentage.

Rather than budgeting over the lifespan of the project, try to do it monthly. This will allow you to have a clear overview of your project budget and be able to adapt it according to the challenges you may face (change of suppliers, delays). There is also less margin for error.

For example, you can use an Excel sheet with the major phases of your project in the header columns, the months on separate lines and the costs of each stage at their intersection. It will then be easy for you to add up the total estimated budget.

You can also proceed by creating your project budget according to the type of expenditure. At each budget review, it is important that you quickly identify losses and profit.

As a project manager, you are in charge of operations. However, you may not always be aware of all the elements that must figure in accounting forecasts. Nor will you be aware of the expenditure and needs of other departments that contribute to the operational phase of the project (marketing, research and development, etc.).

A collaborative dimension is another success factor in project management. You must involve different colleagues when creating a project budget in order to merge the practical knowledge and activity of each member together.

It is strongly advised against delegating this task to an accountant. The administration and the field must walk hand in hand.

It is quite normal to underestimate or overestimate your expenditure.

Overvaluation

Contrary to what you may read or hear, do not inflate the expenses. A small margin of safety (+ 5%) for uncertain expenses is allowed, but generally speaking, it is better to stick as close as possible to your actual forecasts.

Instead, it is recommended to set aside a cash reserve so that you don't have to worry too much about equipment failure or increased expenses, for example.

Some businesses prefer to add a line entitled "management fees" equivalent to 10% of the total budget at the bottom of the table.

Undervaluation

Likewise, you should not underestimate your expenses. A restricted budget will quickly turn into a source of problems and conflicts between several tasks.

In the project implementation stages, analyze risk factors to avoid this type of situation.

Time is money. If you are planning to launch a product too early, postponing it may explode your budget (extension of an emailing campaign, cancellation and postponement of the reservation of the event venue, etc.).

Furthermore, if you ask your employees to estimate their future workload, be aware that they will tend to be overly optimistic. You should add a 20% safety margin to the time they estimate they will spend on each task.

It is a way to track expenses and the time spent by each team member on each task. Then, compare the estimated costs with the actual costs to anticipate what will happen next.

As a good manager, you know that the success of a project does not only depend on good project management. It is also based on the skills and commitment of your employees to satisfy clients.

Thus, internal communication, especially around the project budget and its evolution, will :

• stimulate collective intelligence,
• decompartmentalize skills,
• merge talents,
• improve relationships within the team,
• harmonize workloads,
• make employees feel secure,
• rule out many risk factors associated with human resources (accidents, disengagement, work overload, etc.).

Do not create your project budget spreadsheet on Excel or use project budget templates.

If you are creating your project budget spreadsheet on Excel, you need a solid accounting background to think about all the of expenses and know where to put them.

Moreover, it is not recommended to use project budget templates because each project is unique, and you may deal with complex projects that may not be able to adapt to pre-configured templates.

Whether you use Excel or more sophisticated software, keep track of your calculations' data, so you can go back and understand how you arrived at a specific result.

Wrike is a cloud-based project management software designed to help project managers plan projects using templates and assign teams to collaborate on them.

With this fully transparent tool, project managers can set tasks, subtasks, deadlines, and milestones. Moreover, they will have a variety of visual tools at their disposal, such as Gantt charts and Kanban boards to give them a global overview of project updates with color-coded tasks, assignment details, and real-time statuses.

Wrike also allows project managers to monitor their budget over the course of the project to stay up-to-date on any budget variances and manage their impact.

With this fully transparent tool, project managers can set tasks, subtasks, deadlines, and milestones. Moreover, they will have a variety of visual tools at their disposal such as Gantt charts and Kanban boards to give them a global overview of project updates with color-coded tasks, assignment details, and real-time statuses.

Wrike also allows project managers to monitor their budget over the course of the project to stay up-to-date on any budget variances and manage their impact.

monday.com is a cloud-based work management software that project managers can use to manage project budgets.

Thanks to its system of customizable tables, project managers can manage tasks and sub-tasks using a visual and intuitive tool. Once projects are identified, it is possible to assign each of them with the required resources and budget.

This project management tool goes one step further, by providing time management features (to meet the deadlines of your projects) and by offering different views of your tables, with a Gantt chart for example.

Netsuite is a cloud-based enterprise management software designed to help SMEs manage their core business processes.

With this solution, project managers can make estimates on how much a project will cost and set cost and billing budgets accordingly.

This will also allow them to determine whether a project is on track financially to detect and resolve unexpected situations, like scope creep, milestone changes and project overruns.

With NetSuite’s Project Costing you can:

• monitor project performance

• drive profitability

• evaluate costs

• get strategic insights

As you have understood, it is very important to give the necessary time and attention when developing your project strategy. You must take into account several factors, including time, financial resources, objectives, and human resources.

The solutions presented above will allow you to streamline your organization, improve your management and the monitoring of your projects.

It's up to you to find the one(s) that suits you best. Let us know how you manage your project budget!