A lot of time is spent preparing and presenting the business case prior to eventual project approval. In many cases the budget is paired down to an "acceptable level" prior to approval.
It is really important that the Business Case iterations (versions) and their associated budget versions are maintained and the changes clearly noted. What did we add, take out, change because of an assumption or risk that is being accepted.
These assumptions and risks then need to be tracked and reported upon - they are not static lines in a document - they will have an impact on the budget, timeline or expected outcomes. They also should be traceable to a budget line (if applicable).
We need to have a way of tracking the business case through to the budget and on through to the work-packages and deliverables. If we do not do this the budget becomes a large "pool" of cash that simply get spent and we find it very difficult to determine is we are doing work on budgeted or non-budgeted items.
All expenditure should be tracked back to the budget line and be traceable from there to the business case. This is easy to do if set up from the outset (but near impossible if not set up at initiation) and really helps with change control and executive decisioning when made accessible and visible.
Comentários