A Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) is a breakdown or hierarchical representation of the various costs in a project. The Cost Breakdown Structure represents the costs of the components in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The CBS is a critical tool in managing and the financial aspects of any project and creates a structure for applying measurable cost controls.
A Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) is a breakdown or hierarchical representation of the various costs in a project. The Cost Breakdown Structure represents the costs of the components in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The CBS is a critical tool in managing the project lifecycle, especially the financial aspects of any project by creating a structure for applying measurable cost controls.
The image above is an example of a typical CBS. This one resides within the ERP and is directly linked to the WBS.
The CBS is required for Project Business to appropriately manage the financial aspect of any project. It is the planning structure financial controllers use to create budgets and calculate various financial metrics such as: estimate at completion, cost to complete, variances and earned value.
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Project Business Automation: a Business System for Projects
Just like ERP organizes your company’s finances, PBA organizes your company’s projects.
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Typically, the Cost Breakdown Structure is missing completely in most project tools, including project management software, scheduling and the ERP. Some PPM tools offer a CBS in a limited fashion. Therefore, a CBS is either not utilized or it is created and managed in a spreadsheet. In most cases, it is a spreadsheet updated manually and therefore prone to error and usually neglect because it is simply to hard to keep it up.
If a CBS is not used, then the WBS serves as both the financial and operational hierarchy of the project. This is a major project governance flaw for project-based companies. It is imperative to detach the cost and work breakdown structures, particularly for large projects. If your project involves hundreds or thousands of tasks, it will grow to a point where it becomes impractical to manage the project financials based on the schedule (WBS). At this point you need to employ a CBS parallel to your WBS. The CBS will enable you to manage costs at an appropriate account/GL level or category and create meaningful, real-time financial analysis directly connected to the WBS.
Companies attempting to manage projects financially and operationally using a single hierarchy (the WBS) are setting themselves up for failure. A single hierarchy contains insufficient details for operational planning and is too granular for budget, estimation, cost collection, and variance management. Therefore, companies compromise on both sides and performance suffers as a result.
If a CBS is maintained in a spreadsheet it is completely divorced from the operational aspects so much as it does not represent the current reality of the project. Changes from the WBS do not flow through to the CBS and vice-versa. Therefore, the CBS and WBS are almost always out of sync.
The CBS allows you to define the exact level of details required to efficiently and effectively manage a given project or contract. In order to provide one cohesive construct with the necessary level of granularity, the CBS manages and tracks:
Change orders
Revisions and transfers
Contingencies
Estimate at completion
Variances
Progress and productivity indicators
All budget positions are processed within dedicated budget versions against the CBS. Budget versions are subject to approval, capturing cost and revenue estimates, as well as cash-flow projections.
You can create project budgets using built-in templates and formula-driven estimation tools. Any changes to the original budget are processed as revisions, change orders, or transfers. Adeaca PBA provides a full audit trail of all budget versions including estimation of deliverables, contingencies, and undistributed budgets for rolling-wave planning.
Additionally, the CBS in Adeaca PBA can also be directly and automatically updated from the WBS and vice-versa. Therefore, if a change in the schedule affects the financial aspects of a project (such as EAC, margin, and cash flow), it is known immediately.
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