Some terminology:
When we hear or read the word budget, we often think of a
single numeric value representing the amount of money
allocated for the completion of the project (such as “The
project has a budget of 250 million Euros”), but
that definition misses two important dimensions of the
estimate: its time basis and its accuracy. The following
definitions are taken from A
Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®)
Guide, Third Edition and provide us with a more complete terminology for discussing
baselines and control.
Baseline: The approved time-phased plan (for
a project, a work breakdown structure component, a work
package, or an activity), plus or minus approved scope, cost, schedule
and technical changes. Usually used with a modifier (e.g.,
cost baseline, schedule baseline, performance measurement baseline).
Budget Estimate: see Estimate: A quantitative
assessment of the likely amount or outcome. Usually applied
to project costs, resources, effort, and durations and is usually
preceded with a modifier (e.g., preliminary, conceptual, feasibility,
order of magnitude, definitive). It should always include some
indication of accuracy (e.g., ± x percent). |