How can you use budgeting to manage multiple Facility Management (FM) projects?

2 Create a project breakdown structure

A project breakdown structure (PBS) is a tool that helps you break down your project into manageable components and tasks. A PBS can help you organize your project activities, assign responsibilities, and estimate the duration and cost of each task. You can use a PBS to create a budget for each project component and task, as well as to track your progress and performance against your budget. A PBS can also help you identify and manage the interdependencies and overlaps between your multiple projects, and avoid duplication of work and waste of resources.

3 Use a budgeting method that suits your project needs

When managing multiple FM projects, there are different budgeting methods you can use depending on the complexity, uncertainty, and variability of the projects. For instance, top-down budgeting starts with the total budget available and allocates it to each project based on their relative importance, priority, and size. This is useful when a fixed budget must be distributed efficiently and fairly. Bottom-up budgeting starts with detailed cost estimates of each project component and task, adding them up to get the total budget for each project. This is beneficial when a high level of detail and accuracy is needed for each project. Parametric budgeting uses historical data, benchmarks, or formulas to estimate the cost of each project based on key parameters such as size, scope, quality, or duration. This is useful when similar or repetitive projects require a standardized approach to budgeting. Lastly, contingency budgeting adds a percentage or fixed amount of money to the baseline budget to cover unexpected changes, risks, or uncertainties that may affect project costs. This is beneficial when complex or uncertain projects require preparation for potential deviations from the budget.

4 Monitor and control your budget performance

Once you have created your budgets for your multiple FM projects, you need to monitor and control your budget performance throughout the project lifecycle. You need to compare your actual costs with your planned costs, and identify any variances or discrepancies that may affect your project outcomes and quality. You also need to update and revise your budgets as your project scope, objectives, or conditions change, and communicate any budget changes or issues to your project team, clients, and stakeholders. By monitoring and controlling your budget performance, you can ensure that your projects are on track, on budget, and on value.