Task Costing

Owned by Rashmi Likhite
Last updated: Jun 13, 2016
2 min read

To understand your task profitability, a PM would need to arrive at estimated costs, finalize a budget and then track the actual costs as the project progresses. In Celoxis, you can track 3 kinds of project costs:

  • Labor Cost i.e Cost (Est)
  • Material Cost i.e Cost (Est, Material)
  • Fixed Cost i.e. Cost(Fixed)

Each of these can be tracked individually at a task level which then roll up to calculate the total for the summary task. The costs at the summary or topmost level then roll up to calculate the project's cost.

Labor Cost 

This represents the cost incurred on the resources working on the task. In Celoxis you specify a per hour cost rate for every resource. The cost can be entered per project or at company level. 
When you assign resources against tasks, if they have a User Cost Rate entered, then the estimated labor cost is automatically computed. If multiple resources are assigned to the task, then the individual costs of all resources are added to form the total Estimated Labor Cost for the task.

Estimated Labor Cost [Cost (Est, Labor)] = User cost rate * Hours the resource is allocated on the task


Similarly, when time entered by a resource is approved and marked costable, the actual labor cost of that task is automatically computed. 

Actual Labor Cost [Cost (Actual)] = User cost rate * Approved (costable) Hours entered by resource.


Material Cost

If your project requires machinery, equipment such as computers, the cost of purchasing or renting this equipment is your Material Cost. Or you may add your travel or communication costs of your project here. These are costs that you may incur along the life of the project. These are entered at the task level.

Cost (Est, Non-Labor) = This is the Cost (Est, Material) that can be entered per task.


Fixed Cost

Fixed cost is a fixed cost that will be incurred on the project no matter what. 

Cost (Fixed) = This amount can be entered per task.

The accrued Fixed Cost is automatically computed by Celoxis when a task % complete is updated.

Cost (Accrued, Fixed) = Estimated Fixed Cost * % Complete of task


Projected Cost

In addition to the 3 costs above, Celoxis computes an additional cost called Projected cost. This is a guesstimate cost that you are likely to incur by the time your project completes. Celoxis automatically calculates this based on the actual cost and progress of your project.

Cost (Projected) = [Cost (Actual) / % Complete of a Task]