Project Cost Control
Know where the project really stands — before month end.
Foras connects your budget, captured project cost and Finance actuals into a current cost position you can explain — without hiding the differences that still need a decision.
For commercial and project teams responsible for controlling cost while the work is still moving.
Northgate Logistics Park — Phase 2
Cost position · Aug 2026 · Demo data
Approved Budget
£18.42m
Captured
£11.85m
Finance
£10.47m
Adjusted CTD
£11.96m
| Cost code | Captured | Finance | DiffDifference | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 210Labour | £262k | Decision needed | ||
| 311Shoring & Formwork | −£115k | Match Finance | ||
| 707Subcontract | £158k | Needs review |
The project total is only useful if you can explain what sits behind it.
Site cost exists before it reaches Finance
Labour, plant and subcontract progress happen weeks before a commercial document is processed. The project view has to see them; the ledger cannot yet.
Posting periods and project cut-off rarely align
A cost incurred on the 28th may post in the following period. The difference is real, legitimate and temporary — but only if someone knows that is what it is.
The total can reconcile while packages are wrong
Two cost codes offsetting each other produce a project total that looks correct and a package position that is misleading.
Manual adjustment destroys the reason
A spreadsheet plug makes the numbers agree and removes the one thing worth keeping: why they differed in the first place.
The goal is not to force one number. It is to know which number means what, and why the gap exists.
How it works
One controlled position, built from separate truths.
01
Baseline budget
The approved control baseline for the project, with change managed explicitly rather than edited in place.
02
Captured project cost
Site and commercial evidence recorded against the work and budget line it belongs to.
03
Finance actuals
Posted accounting actuals stay visible and authoritative. Foras does not overwrite them.
04
Reconciliation decisions
Timing, allocation or correction differences are explained and recorded against the cost code.
05
Adjusted cost to date
The controlled to-date position used for project decisions — and the starting point for forecast.
→ Adjusted cost to date then becomes the input to forecast final cost.
Product
See Captured and Finance side by side.
If the numbers differ, the difference should be visible — not buried in a spreadsheet plug.
Northgate Logistics Park — Phase 2
Position · Aug 2026 · Demo data
Captured
£11.85m
Finance
£10.47m
Adjusted CTD
£11.97m
| Cost code | DiffDifference | CTDAdjusted CTD | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150Project Management | £60k | £1.84m | Timing |
| 210Labour | £262k | £2.96m | Decision needed |
| 311Shoring | −£115k | £1.54m | Match Finance |
| 707Subcontract | £158k | £3.18m | Needs review |
Difference = Captured − Finance. A negative difference means captured cost sits below Finance. Shoring shows a Match Finance adjustment of +£115,000, so adjusted CTD equals the Finance position to date. Values rounded for display.
A monthly reconciliation that holds
- Review the cumulative position by cost code or work area, not only the current month.
- Identify differences material enough to need a decision.
- Record the reason and the decision rather than changing the source actual.
- Carry genuine timing differences forward until Finance catches up.
- Keep the explanation available for the next review.
Differences are surfaced for review — they are not automatically classified or resolved. The judgement stays with the commercial team, and the reasoning is kept.
Control the package, not just the project total.
A project-level number can look right while cost sits against the wrong work area or budget line. Foras controls cost at budget-line and cost-classification level, with WBS where the project uses it.
Where one cost code carries more than one budget line, capture selects the line the work draws down. A £5,000 captured cost against 311 Shoring & Formwork is charged to the line it belongs to — not silently split £2,500 / £2,500. Finance imports remain at cost-code level, so the two views still reconcile.
The detail stays commercially meaningful, so the forecast starts from a position you can trust.
311Shoring & Formwork
Shared cost code — choose budget line
| Budget line | Budget | CTDCaptured CTD | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| 311.1 Piling & shoringSelected | £640,000 | £412,500 | £227,500 |
| 311.2 Formwork & falsework | £385,000 | £196,800 | £188,200 |
| Captured cost £5,000 → 311.1 | Drawn down against the selected line, not split across both | ||
A baseline should not move silently.
Cost control depends on a stable point of comparison. Foras applies project-control governance to the budget baseline — not accounting controls, and not a lock nobody can work with.
Locked baseline
The approved budget is held as the control baseline and is not editable in passing.
Explicit revision
An unlock requires a recorded reason and author. The UI then reminds the user to re-lock, so the revision stays explicit and auditable.
Variations path
Routine scope change flows through variations into approved budget — history is not rewritten.
Drift disclosed
Where a forecast is working from a stale or incomplete approved budget, that is stated on screen with one clear Refresh from Budget action.
Next step
A reliable forecast starts with a reliable cost position.
Once the to-date position is explainable, the remaining-cost forecast has a defensible starting point.
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
One cost position. Different decisions.
Where are we financially, why has it moved, and what needs action this week?
Which work areas are creating cost pressure, and what has actually happened on site?
Quantity Surveyor
Which budget and change lines are being consumed, and where is the commercial exposure?
Project Director
Can the team explain the current position and emerging pressure without rebuilding the report?
Related guide
Why your construction project cost position doesn’t match Finance
A project cost position rarely matches Finance actuals to the penny — and it shouldn’t. The commercial risk sits in the part of the difference nobody can explain.
Common use cases
See how your current project position would look in Foras.
Bring the way you currently budget, capture cost and reconcile Finance. We’ll show how Foras would structure the position and where the differences become visible.