the.com/cost management
the art of knowing exactly what everything costs so you can pretend to be surprised anyway.
means the discipline of planning, tracking, and controlling spending so a project or business doesn't quietly bleed money.
from grew out of industrial-era cost accounting in the early 1900s, when factories first needed to know what a widget actually cost to make versus what they hoped it cost.
pmi's four stepsestimate, budget, finance, control, in that order
cost overrun ratemost megaprojects still blow budgets by 20-80 percent
scope creepthe silent killer that makes every estimate obsolete
for instance
boston big dig — budgeted at 2.8 billion, finished near 15 billion
sydney opera house — 1963 estimate of 7 million ballooned to 102 million
berlin brandenburg airport — delayed nine years, costs tripled past 6 billion euros