2020 Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide


Book Description

GAO-20-195G MARCH 2020 Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide ACCESSIBLE VERSION developed this Guide to establish a consistent methodology based on best practices that can be used across the federal government for developing, managing, and evaluating program cost estimates. The Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide presents the best practices associated with developing a reliable, high-quality cost estimate and the best practices associated with effective management of program costs using earned value management (EVM). Use of these best practices should enable government programs to better estimate and manage their costs to improve program management and execution. Why buy a book you can download for free? We print the paperback book so you don't have to. First you gotta find a good clean (legible) copy and make sure it's the latest version (not always easy). Some documents found on the web are missing some pages or the image quality is so poor, they are difficult to read. If you find a good copy, you could print it using a network printer you share with 100 other people (typically its either out of paper or toner). If it's just a 10-page document, no problem, but if it's 250-pages, you will need to punch 3 holes in all those pages and put it in a 3-ring binder. Takes at least an hour. It's much more cost-effective to just order the bound paperback from Amazon.com We include a Table of Contents on the back cover for quick reference. We print these paperbacks as a service so you don't have to. The books are compact, tightly-bound paperback, full-size (8 1/2 by 11 inches), with large text and glossy covers. 4th Watch Publishing Co. is a SDVOSB. https: //usgovpub.com







Cost Estimator's Reference Manual


Book Description

In today's hypercompetitive global marketplace, accurate costestimating is crucial to bottom-line results. Nowhere is this moreevident than in the design and development of new products andservices. Among managing engineers responsible for developingrealistic cost estimates for new product designs, the number-onesource of information and guidance has been the Cost Estimator'sReference Manual. Comprehensive, authoritative, and practical, the Manual instructsreaders in the full range of cost estimating techniques andprocedures currently used in the fields of development, testing,manufacturing, production, construction, software, generalservices, government contracting, engineering services, scientificprojects, and proposal preparation. The authors clearly explain howto go about gathering the data essential to preparing a realisticestimate of costs and guide the reader step by step through eachprocedure. This new Second Edition incorporates a decade of progress in themethods, procedures, and strategies of cost estimating. All thematerial has been updated and five new chapters have been added toreflect the most recent information on such increasingly importanttopics as activity-based costing, software estimating,design-to-cost techniques, and cost implications of new concurrentengineering and systems engineering approaches to projects. Indispensable to virtually anyone whose work requires accurate costestimates, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual will be especiallyvaluable to engineers, estimators, accountants, and contractors ofproducts, projects, processes, and services to both government andindustry. The essential ready-reference for the techniques, methods, andprocedures of cost estimating COST ESTIMATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL Second Edition Indispensable for anyone who depends on accurate cost estimates forengineering projects, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual guidesthe user through both the basic and more sophisticated aspects ofthe estimating process. Authoritative and comprehensive, the Manualseamlessly integrates the many functions--accounting, financial,statistical, and management--of modern cost estimating practice.Its broad coverage includes estimating procedures applied to suchareas as: * Production * Software * Development * General services * Testing * Government contracting * Manufacturing * Engineering * Proposal preparation * Scientific projects * Construction This updated and expanded Second Edition incorporates all the mostimportant recent developments in cost estimating, such asactivity-based costing, software estimating, design-to-costtechniques, computer-aided estimating tools, concurrentengineering, and life cycle costing. For engineers, estimators, accountants, planners, and others whoare involved in the cost aspects of projects, the Cost Estimator'sReference Manual is an invaluable information source that will payfor itself many times over.




Cost Estimate A Complete Guide - 2020 Edition


Book Description

Property - did the study utilize cost estimates or actual cost records? Is the peer review document included with the cost estimate documentation? What is the best case cost estimate if it is necessary to incur the risk? What happens after final inspection/acceptance? Which risk margins have to be applied in construction and maintenance cost estimates? Defining, designing, creating, and implementing a process to solve a challenge or meet an objective is the most valuable role... In EVERY group, company, organization and department. Unless you are talking a one-time, single-use project, there should be a process. Whether that process is managed and implemented by humans, AI, or a combination of the two, it needs to be designed by someone with a complex enough perspective to ask the right questions. Someone capable of asking the right questions and step back and say, 'What are we really trying to accomplish here? And is there a different way to look at it?' This Self-Assessment empowers people to do just that - whether their title is entrepreneur, manager, consultant, (Vice-)President, CxO etc... - they are the people who rule the future. They are the person who asks the right questions to make Cost Estimate investments work better. This Cost Estimate All-Inclusive Self-Assessment enables You to be that person. All the tools you need to an in-depth Cost Estimate Self-Assessment. Featuring 897 new and updated case-based questions, organized into seven core areas of process design, this Self-Assessment will help you identify areas in which Cost Estimate improvements can be made. In using the questions you will be better able to: - diagnose Cost Estimate projects, initiatives, organizations, businesses and processes using accepted diagnostic standards and practices - implement evidence-based best practice strategies aligned with overall goals - integrate recent advances in Cost Estimate and process design strategies into practice according to best practice guidelines Using a Self-Assessment tool known as the Cost Estimate Scorecard, you will develop a clear picture of which Cost Estimate areas need attention. Your purchase includes access details to the Cost Estimate self-assessment dashboard download which gives you your dynamically prioritized projects-ready tool and shows your organization exactly what to do next. You will receive the following contents with New and Updated specific criteria: - The latest quick edition of the book in PDF - The latest complete edition of the book in PDF, which criteria correspond to the criteria in... - The Self-Assessment Excel Dashboard - Example pre-filled Self-Assessment Excel Dashboard to get familiar with results generation - In-depth and specific Cost Estimate Checklists - Project management checklists and templates to assist with implementation INCLUDES LIFETIME SELF ASSESSMENT UPDATES Every self assessment comes with Lifetime Updates and Lifetime Free Updated Books. Lifetime Updates is an industry-first feature which allows you to receive verified self assessment updates, ensuring you always have the most accurate information at your fingertips.




Guide to Independent Government Cost Estimating


Book Description

An Overview of Federal Contracting and the Role of IGCEFive Step Process Leading to Best Practice EstimatesThe Guide to Independent Government Cost Estimating is the indispensible guide to an often viewed complex subject but one which has earned a serious position in the acquisition life cycle.The Guide provides an expanded overview of the federal acquisition process and the role played by independent government cost estimates. The information is accented by well-grounded discussion of the statutory and regulatory basis for cost estimates. The Guide then introduces a five-step process leading to best practice estimates. The five steps are presented with clarity and designed to be quickly understood and applied.The Guide walks the reader through the mine field of complex formulas, rules, regulations and techniques explaining what needs to be done, why and in what order.The Guide is filled with practical information, handy hints, best practices and checklists. Its presentation is aided by the novel use of call outs that highlight key passages, important information and checklists. Also included are measures of success and a quiz and exercises on material covered in the book that can be used by managers or for self-study.Whether you are an experienced contracting professional or a novice, this guide offers an approach that meets best practices standards and which is repeatable using the five step process. For more details, visit www.GTIBookstore.com







Gao-16-628


Book Description

In October 2015, the Bureau estimated that with its new approach it can conduct the 2020 Census for $12.5 billion, $5 billion less than the $17.8 billion it estimated it would cost to repeat the design and methods of the 2010 Census. Reliable cost estimates can help an agency manage large complex activities like the 2020 Census, as well as help Congress make funding decisions and provide oversight. GAO was asked to evaluate the reliability of the Bureau's life-cycle cost estimate. Among other objectives, this report assesses the extent to which (1) the Bureau's life-cycle cost estimate met GAO's best practices for cost estimation and (2) the Bureau identified and accounted for key risks facing the 2020 Census. To meet these objectives, GAO reviewed documentary and testimonial evidence from Bureau officials responsible for developing the 2020 Census cost estimate. GAO used its cost assessment guide (GAO-09-3SP) and Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government (GAO-14-704G) as criteria.




A Practical Guide to Cost Engineering


Book Description

A Practical Guide to Cost Engineering aims to show you how to work as a cost engineer out in the real world. Written by an experienced cost engineer and training program developer, this book introduces the practical side of cost management (cost estimation, cost reduction, and cost control) through real cases and realistic examples from a diverse range of engineering-based projects. With examples from nuclear, oil and gas, and renewable energy sectors, the book introduces and demonstrates the activities of the cost engineer throughout a project life cycle. The content is divided into logical sections covering basic concepts, cost estimation, cost control, economic feasibility, sustainability, and more, and the chapters are packed full of features such as definitions, formulas, exercises, and examples. The focus is on providing a practical approach where the reader can first understand a concept and then apply it using an Excel tool developed by the author which allows the reader to simulate different scenarios and results. The simple approach focusing on essential information backed up by practical scenarios presented in this book allows cost engineers and related professionals to execute and understand their activities, develop their professional skills, and even develop in-house training programs. A Practical Guide to Cost Engineering is accompanied by online resources, accessible via the Routledge Resource Centre wesbite.




GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide


Book Description

The U.S. Government Accountability Office is responsible for, among other things, assisting the Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies' stewardship of public funds. To use public funds effectively, the government must meet the demands of today's changing world by employing effective management practices and processes, including the measurement of government program performance. In addition, legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. To make those evaluations, reliable cost information is required and federal standards have been issued for the cost accounting that is needed to prepare that information. We developed the Cost Guide in order to establish a consistent methodology that is based on best practices and that can be used across the federal government for developing, managing, and evaluating capital program cost estimates.




Cost Estimating


Book Description

This revision of the author's bestselling earlier work on cost estimating has been updated to provide currently applicable examples, data and techniques. Two new chapters have been added covering: computer tools and models for cost estimating, where to get these tools, and the features to look for; software cost estimating with special emphasis on the effect of CASE tools on software productivities and resulting software costs. A complete set of inflation tables is now included to permit conversion from any year dollars to any other year dollars from 1959 through 1997. Retains its comprehensive coverage of the elements needed to embark on a cost estimating task. Strengthened are the invaluable parts of the book which tell the estimator how to produce a competitive and credible cost estimate. Manufacturing standards for hardware and electronics are retained as are handy tables for determining the costs of engineering, design, documentation, drafting and testing.