How To Track A Construction Budget

On today’s show we are talking about the process of budget tracking for construction. The problem with most budgeting tools is that they track two numbers, plan and actual. But the needs of the project extend far beyond these two numbers. 

Let’s talk about the various views that are necessary to properly track a construction budget.

1. Plan of record. We sometimes call this the anchor budget. This number is set at the start of the project and never changes. It’s the reference point. It is the budget that is approved by the lender in the sworn statement of construction. It’s also the budget that the cost consultant who works with the lender is using as their point of reference. 
2. There is the forecast. The forecast in an ideal world would match the anchor budget. In an ideal world there would be no problems or surprises and none of the contingency funds in the budget ever get spent. But in reality, there are likely to be additional costs that dip into the contingency and this is where you track the actual running forecast to completion. Once a change is accepted by the lender or the cost consultant, you can think of this revised budget as the current budget.
3. Along the way you may have subcontractors propose changes to their line items. There is a period of time where these changes are not officially accepted. In fact, there could be several days or weeks where you explore alternatives to what the subcontractor is proposing. These changes might be accepted, or outright rejected, or maybe there could be a third alternative that gets proposed. At the moment, these budget items have to be treated as a risk and not as an officially accepted part of the plan. You will want to track these unofficial numbers and you need a separate budget summary to track these. The use of this column is temporary and should only last for a few days at a time.
4. The last line you will want to track is the actual. But because of all the complexities associated with the holdbacks and potential tax rebates, the actual will only be useful at the  very end of the project when everything is tallied up and the last bill gets paid. Until then, the actual will not add up. 
5. So in addition to the budget actual, you will need another way to track your spending against the budget that includes the adjustments and calculations for holdbacks and tax rebates. Unless you take this step, none of your budget reconciliation will work. 

So instead of the simplistic two columns that most budgeting tools use consisting of plan and actual, a proper industrial strength tool actually needs 5 columns. 

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