The Cost tab in the Project Estimates form allows users to enter and manage all cost-related data for a project when the estimation method is set to Independent Calculation of Costs and Revenues. This means cost and revenue figures are maintained and calculated separately.

Differences Based on Revenue vs. Independent Calculation

Feature

Revenue-Based Calculation

Independent Calculation

Cost derived from revenueYes (markup applied)No (costs are entered independently)
Revenue auto-filled based on costYesNo
Separate handling of VAT, price, and itemsLimitedFully flexible and detailed
Cost and revenue linkageDirectNo linkage (manual entry)

Fill by Revenue

This is a button available on the Costs tab of the "Project Estimates (create)" form when the estimation method is set to "Independent Calculation of Costs and Revenues." When clicked, it automatically fills in cost estimates using the revenue figures already entered on the Revenues tab. This provides a quick way to generate initial cost values, which can then be edited manually if needed. The feature is useful for maintaining consistency and saving time during project budgeting.

Refill Cost prices

The "Refill Cost Prices" button updates the prices of all listed cost items in the Costs tab using the system’s current price lists. When clicked, a confirmation message appears, and if confirmed, the system fetches the latest prices from the purchasing or vendor price list and replaces the values in the Price column.

This function helps ensure that the cost estimates reflect the most current and accurate pricing, based on official or approved lists. It does not change quantities, UOMs, or other fields—only the price. If a price is not available in the list, the existing value remains unchanged.

Purchasing Price

The Purchasing Price form lets users select and apply the most relevant price for an item from historical purchase data, supplier tenders, or price lists.

This ensures cost accuracy and standardization based on previous procurement.

The Change Cost Form enables bulk adjustment of existing cost estimates by a defined percentage or AED value

Key features include:

Example: Increasing cost by 5% on a 658,380 AED budget automatically adds 32,919 AED, updating the total cost and reducing profit accordingly.

The Pick button (when used with Resource Type filters) helps select relevant cost elements such as:

Speeds up the process by filtering available elements according to the type of cost being estimated.

The Fill by Templates feature allows loading pre-defined sets of cost structures into the Cost tab.