Accounting for material price changes in MS Project

Question

Hey MS Project experts,

How would you handle the following scenario in MS Project 2016:

• For a task, you planned to use 100 bags of cement at $70 per bag
• When it comes time to purchase the cement, the price has gone up to $75 per bag.

Meaning the actual cost is higher than the planned cost per unit. I haven't figured out how I can map this in MS Project. Do you have any idea?

To summarize:

Planned # of units: 100 Actual # of units consumed: 100

Planned cost per bag: $70 Actual cost per bag: $75

Actual cost for cement should be 100 x $75 = 7500 Planned cost for cement should be 100 x $70 = 7000

Thanks so much!

Answer 1

1. Planned Cost: After planning the project and before updating any progress, save your planned dates, units, and costs using the Set Baseline dialog on the Project ribbon. The Baseline Cost for the assignment will reflect the original unit cost of $70.
2. Forecast Cost: After setting the baseline, revise the material's standard unit rate on the resource sheet (or, for time-varying costs, on the costs tab of the Resource Information dialog). The Cost for the assignment will reflect the revised unit cost of $75.
3. Actual Cost: If necessary, you can directly enter time-scaled (e.g. daily) Actual Cost for the assignment in a task usage or resource usage view. (Need to uncheck the box for "Actual costs are always calculated by Project" in the schedule options.) Keep in mind that Project is not accounting software.