Quarter end on a framework
Your practice is appointed on a public sector framework or a large estate programme. At any one time there are twenty or thirty live projects for the same client, from small refurbishments to new builds. Each has its own project surveyor and its own cost report.
Every quarter, the client wants one report: the budget, anticipated final cost, committed spend, risk and variance for every project, grouped by region or programme, with commentary on the ones that moved. Someone in your office collects the figures from each surveyor, often by email, pastes them into a master spreadsheet and chases the ones that are late or look wrong.
Why portfolio reporting is slow
- Each project's cost report is laid out slightly differently, so the same figure is in a different cell each time.
- Surveyors report on different dates, so the portfolio is a mix of positions from different weeks.
- Definitions drift: one surveyor includes client direct costs in the anticipated final cost, another does not.
- The master spreadsheet is rebuilt or heavily edited each quarter.
- Checking that the portfolio total is right means going back to each project.
What it costs the practice
A senior person spends days a quarter on collection and reconciliation instead of on the commentary the client values. Errors in the master sheet are embarrassing on a framework where the client compares consultants. Project surveyors resent being chased for numbers they already reported in their own cost reports. And the client, who would like to see a live position, only ever gets a quarterly snapshot.
| Figure | Common inconsistency | How the portfolio layer handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | Original or current approved | Both held, labelled |
| Anticipated final cost | With or without client direct costs | Defined once, applied to every project |
| Committed spend | Different cut-off dates | Reported with its date |
| Risk allowance | Included or shown separately | Shown separately in every case |
| Movement | Compared to different periods | Always against the last portfolio report |
The portfolio layer we build
- We agree a short set of standard figures with the client and your team, with definitions written down.
- Each project's cost report is connected, either by reading the standard figures from its workbook or by generating the cost report from project data in the first place.
- On the reporting date, each project surveyor gets a prompt to confirm their figures, with anything that looks inconsistent flagged, such as a total that does not reconcile or a big movement without a note.
- Confirmed figures flow into the portfolio report automatically, grouped the way the client wants.
- A dashboard gives the client, or your account lead, a current view between reports, showing each project's last confirmed position.
- Movements are listed per project with the surveyor's note, ready for the portfolio commentary.
Each surveyor still owns their project's numbers. The layer collects, checks and presents them. It does not replace their view.
Quarter end, reworked
Surveyors confirm their figures in a few minutes from a prompt. The account lead opens a portfolio report that is already assembled and spends their time on the commentary and the projects that need a conversation. The client can see a current dashboard whenever they like, which tends to reduce the number of ad hoc 'where are we on' emails.
When the framework is re-tendered, the practice can show a clean history of reporting across every project, which is useful evidence of how you work.
Is this your quarter end?
- Portfolio reports are built by pasting figures into a master spreadsheet.
- Different surveyors define the same figure differently.
- Chasing figures from project surveyors takes days.
- The client wants a live view and gets a quarterly one.
- Errors in the portfolio report have had to be corrected after issue.