Template-based project estimates

Project templates are useful tools for estimating future projects, as they allow for streamlining and standardising projects, thus reducing mistakes.

Not only do you reduce mistakes during project creation, you also save time. Additionally, project members are familiar with the terminology used in the projects, so they no longer have to search for the correct task in which to track their time. Quite the challenge, considering the same job can easily have 20 or more synonyms as a result of … creative project management.

When estimating budgets for new projects with the aim of preparing offers for customers, it’s often a good idea to compare the project template used with the actual result of recent projects. This provides a solid foundation for aligning budgets with actual results (don’t forget to overwrite the old template). For fixed-price projects, you’ll discover in time whether the price needs adjusting to avoid losing money. Similarly, for time & material projects you eliminate those unpleasant surprises in the form of budget overruns.

In terms of making cross-project analyses, tasks and similar categories, your project managers no longer need to guess the type of project or task to be tracked. This ensures a sound basis for cross-project reporting.

So if you aren’t using invoice templates already, consider the possibilities of creating some to match your project types. It will greatly facilitate workflows for project managers and members as well as management – and provide your customers with more accurate offers.