PRJM6001: Project Estimating - Cost & Budgeting - Project Management Assessment Answers

Aim of Assignment:

To understand and apply the processes of cost estimating and budgeting

SCOPE

A 23 year old daughter is engaged to be married and has set a tentative wedding date of June, 16th 2016. The couple have chosen Bali as their preferred wedding destination and the parents have offered to cover the travel and accommodation expenses of 40 friends and family who will be invited to the wedding as well as the wedding day celebrations.

The parents have set the happy couple the following parameters:

• Wedding celebration to be fully catered including entertainment at a 5 Star resort
• 8 guests are from the UK, 6 from USA, 16 from Perth and 10 from Sydney
• Travel to be economy class return including transfers
• Accommodation at 4 Star resorts for 7 days bed and breakfast

BUDGET

You have been engaged by the bride’s parents (sponsors) to produce a fully costed budget as a formal professional document

Your submission must contain the following sections:

1. 1. introduction executive summary, scope, assumptions, exclusions, etc
   2. Detailed budget showing all costs. For each cost you need to fully explain:

• How the costs were calculated (including any necessary calculations required to arrive at the cost) NOTE: do not directly contact any organisation in doing this assignment

• Sources of information for each cost element including a clear and full explanation of the scope of each item (ie quantity, type, cost etc) (All sources of cost information must be referenced both in-text and in a reference list at the end of the report.

2. Detailed cashflow, based on the costs in, 2 when each cost will be incurred, with explanations for the timing of each cashflow
3. Accuracy. The sponsor is concerned that the final actual cost may exceed the budget. Highlight one of cost items that you feel has the greatest uncertainty/inaccuracy. Explain why the cost is uncertain and what might be done to ensure this cost can be contained.

Presentation

10 Marks will also be awarded for the quality of presentation comprising appropriate layout, neatness of work and appropriate referencing for sources of data.

Format

The assignment must be typed on A4 paper (using one side only of each A4 sheet of paper) in double space typing and presented with a cover sheet setting out your name, lecturer's name, unit title and the topic of the assignment. The cash flow can be in the form of an spreadsheet embedded in the assignment. All pages should be numbered. All assignments must be thoroughly checked for typing, spelling and grammatical errors before being submitted.

Executive Summary

The budget report presented hereunder covers the estimation for the marriage function and other incidental expenses for the marriage of *** taking place on June, 16th 2016 in Bali as the wedding destination. The report covered the detailed budget showing all costs with explanations and sources for the travel , accommodation and the marriage function costs together with all assumptions based on which these were prepared. A detailed cash flow, based on the costs above with explanations for the timing of each cash flow has also been prepared. This is followed by an explanation on the highly uncertain costs and the mitigating factors thereof.

Introduction

The below mentioned report is a formal cost budget prepared by applying the processes of cost estimating and budgeting for the marriage function and other incidental expenses of *** to be taken place on of June, 16th 2016 in Bali , Indonesia as the wedding destination. The budget covers in detail the cost expected to be incurred to cover the travel and accommodation expenses of 40 friends and family who will be invited to the wedding as well as the wedding day celebrations.

Scope

The following parameters have been instructed to be followed in the preparation of the budget and are understood to be the scope parameters for the budget

• Wedding celebration to be fully catered including entertainment at a 5 Star resort.
• 8 guests are from the UK, 6 from USA, 16 from Perth and 10 from Sydney.
• Travel to be economy class return including transfers.
• Accommodation at 4 Star resorts for 7 days bed and breakfast.

In addition, any expenses on food or entertainment which the guests decide to incur of their own will i.e. food ordered from room service of the hotel or purchases from the residing hotel shop are outside the scope of the budget.

Assumptions and Exclusions

The following assumptions were made in the preparation of the marriage budget:

• The costs are strictly covered to include the travel, accommodation and food expenses for 40 guests arriving from USA, UK, Perth and Sydney.
• The wedding day expenses are budgeted on the basis of catering plus decorations and other incidental expenses as detailed elsewhere in the report.
• The travel, accommodation and food expenses for 40 guests arriving from USA, UK, Perth and Sydney are prepared for 7 days and budgeted as per the cost in Bali, Indonesia even though the marriage party belongs to Australia.
• Inflation and other price level changes and fluctuation including foreign exchange fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Australian dollar, US dollar, pound and the Indonesian rupiah are ignored.
• The Wedding day expenses have been budgeted as per the general trend of the marriage event in Bali.
• No organization was directly contacted in doing this assignment.
• Conveyance from residence to airport and vice versa is outside the scope of the budget.
• Budget is prepared in Australian Currency.
• The family members of the bride and the groom are assumed to be included in the summation of 40 guests including the bride and the groom.
• It is assumed that the 7 day period for the purpose would commence from 13 June to 19 June 2016 morning for the purpose of all the above estimations.
• The exchange rates for the conversions in this respect have been taken to be the ones on the day the report was being prepared and are subject to market fluctuations as such.

Detailed budget showing all costs with explanations and sources

(All cost estimated were available in US $ and were converted to the AUD for the purposes of the report). On research, most of the information on cost elements was available in USD. The same has been converted to AUD for the purpose of the report using the exchange rate as on the date of report.

Marriage day expenses:

Catering: Alcoholic beverages are highly taxed in Indonesia. We have included alcohol in the catering budget in absence of any specific instructions in this regard. Catering expense in a five star resort including light snacks averages about $ 80 to $120. There are no additional service charges in the continent. Added to these expenses are the expenses of drinks averaging $ 5 to $10. For high end range of alcohol, the per head expenses should be about $ 80. (Baliweddingblog.com, 2016)

Decorations: the cost of floral decorations will depend upon the level and class of decoration desired. There are two ranges suited to the resort wedding in this regard:

Low end: $ 1,000-1,500 with decorated chairs and aisle with imported flowers.

High end: $5,000 to 7,000 with bouquet for the bride and maid and a floral shower and decorated altar. (Baliweddingblog.com, 2016)

We have assumed a high end decoration in sync with the choice of a five star resort as location.

Photographer and Videographer: Assumed to cover only the marriage for full day is about $ 5,000 with an additional expense for HD video shooting for full day ranging $ 2,000 to $ 4,000(Baliweddingblog.com, 2016)

Priest and other ceremony expenses including registration of marriage would be $ 700 to 1,000. (Baliweddingblog.com, 2016)

Resort location and DJ entertainment charges: Though the resort also offers all the above mentioned services but these are not only at high rates but are of questionable quality as per survey. So it is recommended to not opt for all inclusive packages; about $ 2,000 to 3,000 (Baliweddingblog.com, 2016)

The marriage day expenses in respect of the bride and bride grooms attire ranging from the ring, gown, veil, shoes, jewellery, and tuxedo are assumed as per current Australian standards for marriage.

Accommodation

As per instructions from the client i.e. Accommodation at 4 Star resorts for 7 days bed and breakfast:

For 7 days and 6 nights the average price offered by four star resorts per room per day varies from resort to resort but averages at $ 100 to $ 150. We also assume that the resort fixed would be close to the marriage venue as much as possible to save the conveyance and time of 40 guests including family to the venue on the D day and to keep its minimum as possible. It is further estimated in respect of accommodation that 25 rooms may not be required as couples and families will use up one room; so for the purpose of budget; we assume 30 rooms to be booked (Tripadvisor.in, 2016)

Travel

As per instructions of the client; “Travel to be economy class return including transfers”.

UK (May best for cheap booking)

The average air time fromLondontoBali is about16 hours and 15 minutes; Singapore Airlines is the best airline for this travel with the average airfare of $ 550 return per person including the cost of connecting flights. (Skyscanner.co.in, 2016)

USA

The airfare depends on the US city. In absence of specific instructions in this area; we have taken an average of the airfare for the cities of New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston and LA excluding Dallas. It is about $ 615 to $ 833 one way including the cost of connecting flights. (Bali et al., 2016)

Perth (May best for cheap booking)

The average air time fromPerthtoBali is3 hours and 25 minutes; Air Asia is the best airlienfor this travel with the average airfare of $ 170 return per person including the cost of connecting flights. (Skyscanner.co.in, 2016)

Sydney (May best for cheap booking)

The average air time fromSydneytoBali is6 hours and 10 minutes; Virgin Australia is the best airline for this travel with the average airfare of $ 361 return per person including the cost of connecting flights. (Skyscanner.co.in, 2016)

The cab expenses will be incurred for bringing in the guests from the Bali airport to the hotel and return and on the marriage day for dropping and picking them vis-à-vis the marriage location. The cab expenses are rather cheap in Bali and average less than $ 1 per km. (Fare, 2016)

Detailed cash flow, based on the costs above with explanations for the timing of each cash flow

• The travel expenses as regards the cost element of airfare will be paid in cash in May. As per research, this month shows cheapest air fares. Also, it would be prudent to book the tickets in advance to avoid last minute hassles.
• The cab expenses are ad hoc in nature and the cash flow will take place during June 13 to 19. Priest and register charges will also be paid in cash in June.
• The accommodation expenses will be incurred in cash in May and June in equal instalments (50% advances as per trade norms). The bookings will need to be done in advance as Bali is a premier marriage location to avoid last minute hassles.
• The marriage day expenses in respect of the bride and bride grooms attire ranging from the ring, gown, veil, shoes, jewellery, and tuxedo will involve cash flow in April as these will be purchased from the hometown and will need prior research.
• Catering, alcohol, drinks, resort, decoration and photography will be incurred in cash in May and June in equal instalments (50% advances as per trade norms). The bookings will need to be done in advance as Bali is a premier marriage location to avoid last minute hassles.

Highly uncertain costs with mitigating factors

It is imperative to mention at this juncture that a few of the costs listed above may be subject to a high degree of uncertainty and inaccuracy. Most prominent among these are the travel costs which are subject to a high degree of changes and exchange rate fluctuations due to competition in the airline industry. The best course to mitigate this risk would be to book these at the timings suggested so as to curb the risk.