PROJ 586 Week 4 Course Project

PROJ 586 Week 4 Course Project

Course Project: Week 4

Deliverables | Step 1: Update MS Project With Fixed Cost Information | Step 2: Update MS Project With Variable Cost Information | Step 3: Answer the Following Essay Question

Now that your project schedule has been created and your resources have been loaded, let’s take a closer look at the cost of the project.

This week, you will have two deliverables.

• Enter project cost information into MS Project – 15 points
• Answer questions regarding earned value analysis – 30 points

Please provide these two deliverables (MS Project file and MS Word document) to the Week 4 Dropbox. Please refer to the course Syllabus for your due date.

To help guide you through these deliverables, please follow the three step process below.

Most projects have fixed costs to account for. These are such things as mortgages and other costs that do not change with production. Fixed costs need to be accounted for in projects. If your project has fixed costs, follow the following steps.

Resource Fixed Cost List Instructions Microsoft Project 2010

The following steps should be followed when setting up your project fixed costs with Microsoft Project:

• Go to the gray area at the top of the project on the Duration column and Right Click and choose Insert Column. Type in Fixed Cost and hit enter.
• Enter the fixed costs above in the fixed cost column as listed adjacent to the appropriate tasks.

Variable Resource List

Most projects have variable costs. These are costs that change with the amount of work being done. These are commonly seen as dollar per hour costs. Most of your resources will be dollar per hour costs. Follow the below steps to enter this data.

Resource Variable Cost List Instructions for Microsoft 2010

Using this information, go back into the Resource Sheet to update the hourly rate for each resource.

• Click on the View tab. Click on the Resource Sheet icon under the Resource Views section. The resource sheet icon is the middle icon on the right of this view with two heads. Check to make sure the Type field is Work and enter the dollar amount above for the hourly rate for each resource in the Std. Rate column.
• To access various reports with cost and other information select Reports under the Project tab.

Resource Variable Cost List Instructions for Microsoft 2007

Using this information, go back into the Resource Sheet to update the hourly rate for each resource.

• Click on View, Resource Sheet, and enter the standard rate for each role. This will default to $/hour.

Answer the Following Essay Question

Now that your project schedule has been created, your resources have been loaded, and your resource costs have been allocated, please analyze your results and answer the following questions.

After you enter all of your resources, answer the following questions:

1. What is your total budget for this project? Does this budget make sense? [15 points]
2. What can be done to lower the budget and reduce the project’s duration? [15 points]

Formulate the above responses into a two to three page essay report. Remember, the report must be to a level of clarity and depth that would be readily understood by the executive management. Do support your analysis with both in-text citation and references from the textbook, PMBOK® Guide or other juried sources. Include a cover sheet and a reference page. Use APA style format, double-space, one inch margins, Times New Roman, and 12 point font size.