Automatic budget calculation mode streamlines the cost management of projects by automating the calculation process. When you enable this feature, GanttPRO automatically computes the total cost for each task based on the type of resources and their cost values, estimated hours of work, and the number of items required. Unlike in manual budget calculation mode, here you cannot modify the cost data.
By default, any newly created project uses manual budget calculation. To check the current settings and switch to automatic budget calculation mode:
1 Go to Project settings.
2 Enable the Auto budget calculation toggle for automatic calculation.
Find out below:
- How to set costs and values
- How is the budget calculated in automatic mode
- What is the actual cost
- How is actual cost calculated in automatic mode
How to set costs and values
For each resource (project members and virtual), you can set values 1 and cost 2 when you add them.
It is possible to set the following values:
- per hour
- fixed cost
- per item
1 Per hour
This value is used to calculate the cost per hour of labor resources. In the project grid, after you assign a task to your resource, you will be able to set the number of hours this task requires. The cost will be calculated automatically based on the hours required to complete it (i.e. based on estimation).
2 Fixed cost
This value is used to set the cost without any link to hours and items. In the project grid, you will be able to set the exact cost for each resource. This is basically any lump sum payment that does not entail further calculations.
3 Per item
This value is used to calculate the cost per item of a material resource. It can be the whole sum of a single resource or the cost of a single material unit. In the project grid, you will be able to set the number of items.
Note that in this case, there is no connection between task duration and cost.
How is the budget calculated in automatic mode
Depending on the type of resources the budget is calculated in different ways:
- For labor resources, the cost is made up of estimation multiplied by the cost per hour.
- For material resources, the cost is made up of the number of items you indicate (which is zero by default) multiplied by the cost per item.
- For resources with fixed costs, the cost should be indicated manually when you assign the resource to a task (i.e. any fixed sum).
Let's look at the examples.
Labor resources
Suppose, you have a project on website development. A task Product design requires a Graphic designer who will complete a task in 40 hours at 20$ per hour. The total budget in this case will be $800.
- Labor Resource: Graphic Designer
- Estimation: 40 hours
- Cost per hour: $20
- Total budget: 40 hours × $20/hour = $800
To get the budget calculations, go to the People tab 1, select Cost values 2 and introduce a rate per hour 3.
After that, go back to a Gantt chart view 1, click on the corresponding assignee 2 in the Assigned field and set estimation 3. Click on Ok 4 and see the calculated amount in the Budget field 5.
Material resources
The next task in our project on website development is Obtaining software licenses. Licenses are material resources with the cost per item (user).
- Material Resource: Software licenses used for website development
- Number of licenses required: 5
- Cost per license: $200
- Total budget: 5 licenses × $200/license = $1,000
To get the budget calculations, go to the People tab 1 and switch to the Virtual resources tab 2. Select Cost values 3 and introduce a cost per item 4. If you don't have these resources, check how to add a virtual resource to a project.
After that, go back to a Gantt chart view 1, select the resource 2 in the Assigned field and set the number of items 3. Click on Ok 4 and see the calculated amount in the Budget field 5.
Resources with fixed costs
The last task in our example project on website development is Obtaining web hosting service with a fixed cost.
- Fixed-cost resource: Web hosting service
- Cost: $500
- Total budget: $500 for the project duration
To get the budget calculations, go to the People tab 1 and switch to the Virtual resources 2 tab. Select Cost as a value 3. If you don't have these resources, check how to add a virtual resource to a project.
After that, go back to a Gantt chart view 1, select the resource 2 in the Assigned field and introduce the cost 3. Click on Ok 4 and see the calculated amount in the Budget field 5.
Once all the costs are added, you can see the total budget at the top of the Budget field.
What is the actual cost
With Auto budget calculation, you can also track the actual amount of money spent on a certain task. That way, you will not only see the estimation values but also precise spendings that account for other aspects.
To enable this option, switch on the Actual cost field in the Standard fields in the project grid.
Note that any resource in your account can be utilized in different projects and have different cost values and types in each of them.
How is actual cost calculated in automatic mode
There are also a few ways for the calculation of Actual cost depending on the cost values you have chosen for a particular resource.
If you’ve assigned:
- ‘Per hour’ cost: the actual cost takes the values from the Time log field 1 for project participants. For virtual resources, it is connected to the task progress.
- ‘Per item’ cost: the actual cost is directly connected to the task progress 2.
- ‘Fixed cost’: the actual cost is directly connected to the task progress 3.