Budgeting

Planning a Project Budget

Calculating a project budget is a complex process. You need to consider staff efforts, other direct costs, subcontracting, etc. You need to be aware of the different funding rates for different types of partners and types of projects. And when you apply a bottom-up approach starting at the level of tasks, it is important to have a precise overview at the project level. A budgeting tool helps you see the impact of a change you make in a work package on the global level.

The budget tool I use makes sure that any change you make in the budget is implemented in all dependent figures. If you, for example, realize, that you need 3 person-months instead of the originally foreseen 2, the tool updates the budget based on the applicable person-month rate, the summary of staff efforts table showing all person-month numbers for all project partners, etc.