Acc 504 Mod 1 Case

Costing, Budgeting for Projects

TUI University

Unknown

Module One Case Study #1

ACC 504

Dr. Wagner

January 2011

Introduction

      I will include the essential elements of managing, planning, and controls in projects.   I will explain the key elements of cost accounting typical in most projects and integrate my answers and analyses from the reading.

What is included in cost and budgeting for projects?   “Project management includes developing a project plan, which includes defining and confirming the project goals and objectives, identifying tasks and how goals will be achieved, quantifying the resources needed, and determining budgets and timelines for completion.   It also includes managing the implementation of the project plan, along with operating regular 'controls' to ensure that there is accurate and objective information on 'performance' relative to the plan, and the mechanisms to implement recovery actions where necessary,” according to the article “All about Project Management.”

What is costing and budgeting?   In accounting, costs are the monetary value of expenditures for supplies, services, labor, products, equipment and other items purchased for use by a business or other accounting entity.   It is the amount denoted on invoices as the price and recorded in bookkeeping records as an expense or asset cost basis, according to Wikipedia.   Costing is also the process of estimating costs for items in a program.   The result of costing is a budget for the program.   So, what is budgeting?   The truth is that budgeting isn't just for times when your money is tight or your life is undergoing a major transition. Budgeting is for everyone, rich and poor alike. In fact, budgeting will be that much easier in times of change if you do it all the time. Where do you think a Fortune 500 company like Amazon would be today without proper budgeting? What about wealthy people like Warren Buffett? There's no way that he or his holding company,...