Projects are the way of doing business and organisations need skilled people who can manage them and operate effectively in a project environment.  As more organisations adopt Project Management as the tool for the implementation of work, these skills are becoming ever so in demand.

Understand and Apply Cost Management.

This program has been drawn from International Project Management Best Practice and developed to meet the requirements of the relevant unit of competence within Nationally Recognised Certificate IV in Project Management Practice in Australia.

This course is delivered in a practical real world context and whilst it is supported by theory it focusses on delivering the practical skills you can apply directly to your projects.

If you are managing projects, working in a project team or affected by projects in one way or another this course is for you.  You will gain a practical insight into scope management exploring the following:

Introduction into Cost Management:

• Key Terminology and the importance of Cost Management
• Understanding key concepts; Tax, Depreciation and others
• Increase knowledge of fundamental cost management concepts

How to Estimate the Project's Cost

• Understand estimates and the factors which affect them
• Understand Top down estimation
• Understand Bottom up estimation
• Understand contingency

How to budget the Project

• Using the WBS to develop budgets
• Using different budgeting methods
• Checking cash flow
• Identifying approval requirements

How to Monitor and Control Costs

• How to develop an effective framework
• Using the Cost Management Plan
• S-Curves
• Dealing with variances

How to Review the Project's Cost

• Review the Project's Budget
• Report on cost effectiveness
• Conduct lessons learned

At the end of this program you will have a practical, working understanding of how to manage the scope of the Project.  By completing the activities, you will have met most of the requirements of the Nationally Recognised unit: Apply project cost management techniques  (BSBPMG412) as part of the Certificate IV in Project Management.

The reason for developing the course

I found that the resources provided to many students undertaking studies in Project Management were lacking.  They were either;

too theoretical, which prevented students applying it to their workplaces;

not engaging, such as books or PDFs;

hard to understand: using complex language to illustrate otherwise simple concepts; or

incorrect, usually written by people without a true and practical understanding of the subject.

Online learning is difficult- I know, I am the worst online student.  As a result, I have designed this course to provide students with an additional resource to enhance their understanding of the topic.  The course is based upon strong theoretical foundations, but delivered in a practical way- so you can apply what you learn to better your projects. 

I have also tried to make the course engaging using a mix of visual and auditory delivery accompanied by tasks which you can use to test your knowledge and apply the concepts.  I have also tried to approach the subject in a casual way, which will hopefully make it a fun learning experience.

I have tried to keep the language to its simplest form, explaining industry words as I progress through the course.  This will enable you to understand the vocabulary used in Project Management, without being confused by it.