9.1. Estimated cost for a project

During the planning of a project, the system provides a way of estimating the cost of the project. This cost estimate produced by the system is displayed in the Estimated cost column of the Attribute table view. The Estimated cost is the sum of the Fixed cost, the Estimated resource cost and the Estimated material cost.

In order for the system to calculate Resource estimated cost, it needs billing codes to be defined. If a resource has an associated billing code, then each assignment for that resource uses that billing code by default. Billing codes can be associated with users at creation, or later, through the Admin console. Even if a resource has an associated billing code, or no billing code, a different billing code may be applied for that resource in any particular task by editing the resources for the task, and filling in the appropriate billing code. The cost per hour of a resource for a task is determined by the billing code applied to the resource for that task.

In order to calculate Materials estimated cost, of course materials need to be defined. Also, the usage of materials by specific tasks needs to be input.