To use public funds effectively, the gov¿t. must meet the demands of today's changing world by employing effective mgmt. practices and processes, including the measurement of gov¿t. program performance. Legislators, gov¿t. officials, and the public want to know whether gov¿t. programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. To make those evaluations, reliable cost information is required and fed. standards have been issued for the cost accounting that is needed to prepare that information. This Cost Guide has been developed in order to establish a consistent methodology that is based on best practices and that can be used across the fed. gov¿t. for developing, managing, and evaluating capital program cost estimates. Illustrations.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office is responsible for, among other things, assisting the Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies' stewardship of public funds. To use public funds effectively, the government must meet the demands of today's changing world by employing effective management practices and processes, including the measurement of government program performance. In addition, legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. To make those evaluations, reliable cost information is required and federal standards have been issued for the cost accounting that is needed to prepare that information. We developed the Cost Guide in order to establish a consistent methodology that is based on best practices and that can be used across the federal government for developing, managing, and evaluating capital program cost estimates.

Contents: Characteristics of Credible Cost Estimates & a Reliable Process for Creating Them; Why Cost Estimates Are Required for Gov¿t. Programs & Challenges in Developing Results; Criteria for Cost Estimating, EVM, & Data Reliability; Cost Analysis Overview; The Cost Estimate¿s Purpose, Scope, & Schedule; The Cost Assessment Team; Technical Baseline Description; Work Breakdown Structure; Ground Rules & Assumptions; Data; Developing a Point Estimate; Estimating Software Costs; Sensitivity Analysis; Cost Risk & Uncertainty; Validating the Estimate; Documenting the Estimate; Presenting the Estimate to Mgmt.; Managing Program Costs: Planning, Execution, & Updating; & Appendixes. Tables, Figures, & Checklists.

GAO-20-195G MARCH 2020 Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide ACCESSIBLE VERSION developed this Guide to establish a consistent methodology based on best practices that can be used across the federal government for developing, managing, and evaluating program cost estimates. The Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide presents the best practices associated with developing a reliable, high-quality cost estimate and the best practices associated with effective management of program costs using earned value management (EVM). Use of these best practices should enable government programs to better estimate and manage their costs to improve program management and execution. Why buy a book you can download for free? We print the paperback book so you don't have to. First you gotta find a good clean (legible) copy and make sure it's the latest version (not always easy). Some documents found on the web are missing some pages or the image quality is so poor, they are difficult to read. If you find a good copy, you could print it using a network printer you share with 100 other people (typically its either out of paper or toner). If it's just a 10-page document, no problem, but if it's 250-pages, you will need to punch 3 holes in all those pages and put it in a 3-ring binder. Takes at least an hour. It's much more cost-effective to just order the bound paperback from Amazon.com We include a Table of Contents on the back cover for quick reference. We print these paperbacks as a service so you don't have to. The books are compact, tightly-bound paperback, full-size (8 1/2 by 11 inches), with large text and glossy covers. 4th Watch Publishing Co. is a SDVOSB. https: //usgovpub.com

In today's hypercompetitive global marketplace, accurate costestimating is crucial to bottom-line results. Nowhere is this moreevident than in the design and development of new products andservices. Among managing engineers responsible for developingrealistic cost estimates for new product designs, the number-onesource of information and guidance has been the Cost Estimator'sReference Manual. Comprehensive, authoritative, and practical, the Manual instructsreaders in the full range of cost estimating techniques andprocedures currently used in the fields of development, testing,manufacturing, production, construction, software, generalservices, government contracting, engineering services, scientificprojects, and proposal preparation. The authors clearly explain howto go about gathering the data essential to preparing a realisticestimate of costs and guide the reader step by step through eachprocedure. This new Second Edition incorporates a decade of progress in themethods, procedures, and strategies of cost estimating. All thematerial has been updated and five new chapters have been added toreflect the most recent information on such increasingly importanttopics as activity-based costing, software estimating,design-to-cost techniques, and cost implications of new concurrentengineering and systems engineering approaches to projects. Indispensable to virtually anyone whose work requires accurate costestimates, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual will be especiallyvaluable to engineers, estimators, accountants, and contractors ofproducts, projects, processes, and services to both government andindustry. The essential ready-reference for the techniques, methods, andprocedures of cost estimating COST ESTIMATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL Second Edition Indispensable for anyone who depends on accurate cost estimates forengineering projects, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual guidesthe user through both the basic and more sophisticated aspects ofthe estimating process. Authoritative and comprehensive, the Manualseamlessly integrates the many functions--accounting, financial,statistical, and management--of modern cost estimating practice.Its broad coverage includes estimating procedures applied to suchareas as: * Production * Software * Development * General services * Testing * Government contracting * Manufacturing * Engineering * Proposal preparation * Scientific projects * Construction This updated and expanded Second Edition incorporates all the mostimportant recent developments in cost estimating, such asactivity-based costing, software estimating, design-to-costtechniques, computer-aided estimating tools, concurrentengineering, and life cycle costing. For engineers, estimators, accountants, planners, and others whoare involved in the cost aspects of projects, the Cost Estimator'sReference Manual is an invaluable information source that will payfor itself many times over.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office is responsible for, among other things, assisting the Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies' stewardship of public funds. To use public funds effectively, the government must meet the demands of today's changing world by employing effective management practices and processes, including the measurement of government program performance. In addition, legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. To make those evaluations, reliable cost information is required and federal standards have been issued for the cost accounting that is needed to prepare that information. We developed the Cost Guide in order to establish a consistent methodology that is based on best practices and that can be used across the federal government for developing, managing, and evaluating capital program cost estimates.