SECTION 1:

MANAGING PROJECT BUDGETS

INTRODUCTION

Know that with a farm, as with a man, however productive it may be, if it has the spending habit, not much will be left over.

Marcus Porcius Cato (234–149 BC), De Agricultura

More than one-third of projects have a budget of over £1 million so knowing how to handle the finances is an essential part of a project manager’s repertoire. The initial budget is often just a starting point. An incredible 56 per cent of projects are affected by budget changes and that’s not just a one-off financial revision. The average project, if there is such a thing, has its budget revised 3.4 times.1

Keeping on top of all this is not always easy, and it is made harder by the fact that project managers themselves ...

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