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The usefulness of an estimate is not limited to the planning phase of a project. It should act as the baseline budget against which all costs incurred during project execution can be measured. An estimate should therefore be as trackable as possible, so that allowed expenditure can be measured against the actual costs at any point in time. To achieve this, it is necessary to align how allowed expenditure is generated and actual costs are captured. In other words, the level of detail of the estimate buildup and that of the cost-capturing process must be compatible.
Trimble Quest’s resource-driven approach to estimating fits in very well with this philosophy since typically, costs are incurred and tracked at the resource level. Examples include the payment of wages, the procurement of materials, and the hiring of machinery. Trimble Quest can, however, also cater to the scenario where cost capturing happens on a coarser-grained level than that of the estimate. Several structuring mechanisms are provided within the software that enables data rollup on the estimate and the allowed expenditure. An accurate comparison between allowables and actuals can therefore still be achieved even if the estimate is more detailed than the cost-capturing process.
Trimble Quest supports project managers in structuring estimates in a way that enables and promotes the control process. It is important to always keep the execution and control phases in mind when developing the initial estimate of a project. In this guide, attention will be given to Trimble Quest’s role in the development, structuring, and control of an estimate.