Plan Cost Management establishes the policies and procedures for the project’s money: units of measure, levels of precision and accuracy, control thresholds, and the rules for earned value measurement. The output is the cost management plan — guidance, not the estimates themselves.
Like the other plan-the-plan processes, it is brief but sets expectations: how variances will be measured, and at what point a cost slip triggers action.
Common pitfalls. Skipping it and improvising cost control; no agreed control thresholds, so it is unclear when an overrun matters; and a level of rigor mismatched to the project’s size and risk.
Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs
Inputs
- Project charter
- Project management plan
- Enterprise environmental factors
- Organizational process assets
Tools & Techniques
- Expert judgment
- Data analysis
- Meetings
Outputs
- Cost management plan
How This Process Connects
Every process hands artifacts to other processes. Follow the flow of this one:
Where its inputs come from
- Develop Project Charterproduces: Project charter
- Develop Project Management Planproduces: Project management plan
More in Project Cost Management
In the Domains & Principles View
The PMBOK® Guide frames this work through performance domains and principles:
In the Eighth Edition
This process describes the framework as set out in the Sixth and Seventh Editions. The Eighth Edition reorganized it into 6 principles, 7 performance domains and 40 processes.