Forecasting & Margin Control
See where the project is heading — while there is still time to change it.
Foras combines the cost position to date with your remaining-cost forecast to show the expected final cost — by the work areas and cost lines where action can still make a difference.
For commercial and project teams responsible for turning today’s cost position into tomorrow’s project outcome.
Northgate Logistics Park — Phase 2
Forecast · Aug 2026 · Demo data
Approved Budget
£18,420,000
Original Budget + Approved Variations
Adj CTD
£11,964,300
Raw CTD + Adjustments
Forecast CTC
£6,941,100
Qty × Rate × Util%
Forecast Final Cost
£18,905,400
Adj CTD + CTC
Forecast Variance
£485,400 over
2.6% over Approved Budget
Northgate Logistics Park — Phase 2
Forecast lines · Cost Item view · Demo data
| Cost item | Approved budget | Adj CTD | Forecast CTC | Forecast final cost | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 210Direct labour | £4,200,000 | £2,964,800 | £1,405,050 | £4,369,850 | £169,850 over |
| 311Piling & shoring | £1,900,000 | £1,541,700 | £336,000 | £1,877,700 | £22,300 under |
| 707Drainage subcontract | £3,600,000 | £3,180,500 | £520,000 | £3,700,500 | £100,500 over |
| Project total (all lines) | £18,420,000 | £11,964,300 | £6,941,100 | £18,905,400 | £485,400 over |
A forecast is only useful if the starting position is credible.
Forecasts built on stale or unexplained cost to date merely carry yesterday's uncertainty forward.
Remaining cost is often held separately from the budget and actual-cost position, so no one can see what changed.
Approved scope changes can alter the budget while the forecast still works from an old baseline.
A project total can hide the package or work area where forecast pressure is actually emerging.
Forecasting is not the act of entering one final number. It is maintaining the reasoning that produces it.
The model
Expected final cost has two parts.
Adjusted Cost to Date + Forecast Cost to Complete = Forecast Final Cost
Approved Budget − Forecast Final Cost = Forecast Variance
£11,964,300 + £6,941,100 = £18,905,400 · £18,420,000 − £18,905,400 = £485,400 over approved budget (2.6%)
- Adjusted cost to date£11,964,300
- Captured project cost plus recorded reconciliation adjustments. Raw CTD stays separately visible, so the adjustment is never invisible.
- Forecast cost to complete£6,941,100
- The remaining-cost estimate, built line by line from forecast quantity, rate, unit and utilisation.
- Forecast final cost£18,905,400
- Adjusted cost to date plus forecast cost to complete — the expected outturn cost of the project.
- Forecast variance£485,400 over
- Approved budget minus forecast final cost. Here the forecast sits 2.6% over the approved budget of £18,420,000.
Figures shown across this page are illustrative demo data for one consistent demo project.
Product
Forecast at the level where the remaining cost is understood.
Project totals tell you the outcome. Forecast lines explain what is driving it.
Northgate Logistics Park — Phase 2
Forecast lines · Cost Item view · Demo data
| Cost item | Approved budget | Raw CTD | Adjustments | Adj CTD | Fcst qty | Rate | Util % | Forecast CTC | Forecast final cost | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 210Direct labour | £4,200,000 | £2,964,800 | 0 | £2,964,800 | 34,800 h | £42.50 | 95% | £1,405,050 | £4,369,850 | £169,850 over |
| 311Piling & shoring | £1,900,000 | £1,426,700 | +115,000 | £1,541,700 | 2,400 m³ | £140.00 | 100% | £336,000 | £1,877,700 | £22,300 under |
| 707Drainage subcontract | £3,600,000 | £3,180,500 | 0 | £3,180,500 | 1 pkg | £520,000 | 100% | £520,000 | £3,700,500 | £100,500 over |
| —Site management (overheads) | £1,150,000 | £742,600 | 0 | £742,600 | 26 wk | £14,500 | 100% | £377,000 | £1,119,600 | £30,400 under |
| Project total (all lines) | £18,420,000 | £11,849,300 | +115,000 | £11,964,300 | £6,941,100 | £18,905,400 | £485,400 over |
Current cost stays visible
Captured cost is attributed onto the forecast line it belongs to, so the line shows what has already been spent against it.
Adjustments stay explicit
Reconciliation adjustments flow into adjusted cost to date without rewriting the raw cost-to-date column.
The team owns the assumption
Remaining quantity, rate and utilisation are set by the people accountable for the work — not generated for them.
Lines roll into one outturn
Each line rolls up into a project forecast final cost that can be defended back to the detail behind it.
Make the remaining-cost assumption visible.
A forecast line can hold a forecast quantity, a rate, a unit and a utilisation percentage. Forecast cost to complete is calculated from those inputs rather than typed in as a single final figure.
Different cost types use the units that suit them — labour hours, plant weeks, or a remaining package value for a fixed subcontract.
The forecast can be challenged because the assumption is visible, not buried in a single manually typed final-cost figure.
Forecast cost to complete
Labour
1,240 h × £42.50/h × 95% utilisation = £50,065
Plant
18 wk × £2,750/wk × 90% utilisation = £44,550
Subcontract
1 package × £520,000 remaining = £520,000
When the budget changes, the forecast should tell you.
Approved budget on the forecast reflects the project budget plus approved variation cost changes. If the forecast is working from an older approved budget — or a budget line is missing entirely — that is stated on screen rather than quietly absorbed.
Refresh from Budget is one clear action that brings the forecast back in line with the current approved budget. When the forecast is already aligned, the screen confirms that too.
The budget itself is controlled in Project Cost Control, and approved scope change flows through Variation Management.
Budget out of sync — £320,000 not reflected in the forecast
3 budget lines have no forecast line. Approved Budget should always match the budget plus approved variations. Refresh to reconcile.
Hold the to-date basis still while the team completes the forecast.
A forecast cycle can freeze the adjusted cost-to-date basis at forecast-line level. Nothing jumps at the moment of freeze — the displayed position is the one you already agreed.
- Cost captured after the freeze does not move the frozen to-date basis for that cycle.
- Forecast cost to complete stays live, so assumptions can still be revised.
- Forecast final cost therefore continues to move as the remaining-cost estimate changes.
- The same frozen basis is used across the relevant project financial views.
This is a project-control forecast basis. It is not an accounting period close, and it does not change how Finance treats posted cost.
Forecast cycle · Aug 2026
CTD basis frozen · Demo data
| Measure | At freeze | After revision |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted CTD basisHeld | £11.964m | £11.964m |
| Forecast cost to complete | £6.941m | £6.720m |
| Forecast final cost | £18.905m | £18.684m |
Do not make missing cost look like zero cost.
Cost that cannot yet be attributed to a forecast line is shown separately, so the residual is visible and can be investigated. Where a cost read fails, the forecast says so rather than presenting a plausible-looking zero.
This is not a claim of perfect classification. It is a commitment that something needing attention is identified rather than silently excluded from the project position.
£75,750 of recorded cost isn’t showing on a forecast line
- Plant · No Cost Item on the diary record£38,400
- Supply · No Cost Item on the diary record£12,750
- Subcontractor · No forecast line exists for this Cost Item yet£24,600
One forecast, several useful lenses.
These are different views over the same underlying forecast, not separate forecasts to maintain.
WBS
Where the project uses a work breakdown structure.
Cost Item
The budget-derived control line the forecast is built on.
Category
Labour, plant, materials, subcontract and overheads.
Delivery Type
How the work is being delivered.
Work Item
Where work items are enabled on the project.
Forecast can also be exported at cost-item level, respecting the filters currently applied.
Margin pressure becomes visible as cost pressure — before the job is finished.
Foras shows where expected final cost is moving against approved budget. That gives the commercial team an earlier opportunity to challenge productivity, resource, procurement, subcontract or scope assumptions before the cost becomes irreversible.
Labour productivity
Remaining hours are moving against the budgeted allowance on a work area.
Plant duration and utilisation
Equipment is staying on site longer, or working at lower utilisation, than assumed.
Subcontract package forecast
The remaining package cost is being revised above the approved package budget.
Scope change not yet reflected
Approved variation cost has changed the budget while the forecast still holds the old baseline.
Foras surfaces the movement. The diagnosis stays with the people who know the job.
A forecast is only as good as the position underneath it.
Build the current to-date position from budget, captured cost and Finance actuals.
Explain the differences between Site and Finance instead of forcing them to match.
Show us your current forecast. We’ll show you how Foras would structure it.
Bring the way you currently report cost to date, remaining cost and forecast final cost. We’ll map it into the Foras workflow and show where assumptions, adjustments and variance become visible.