Report week
The client's project manager expects the cost report by the tenth. It opens with the anticipated final cost, then breaks down the contract sum, variations agreed and pending, provisional sum adjustments, risk allowances and client direct costs, with a short commentary on movement since last month.
Every figure comes from somewhere else. The surveyor copies from the variations log, the valuation workbook and the risk register, pastes into the report template, reconciles the totals, then writes the commentary. On a large job, or across several jobs, that is days a month.
Why cost reporting is so manual
- The report template is a document, not a view of live data, so it has to be filled in each time.
- Last month's figures are compared by opening last month's report.
- Risk allowances are adjusted in a separate register and the movement has to be explained.
- Clients want slightly different formats, so templates multiply.
- Checking that totals reconcile is a manual task, repeated every month.
The cost of compiled reports
The report reflects the day it was compiled, so it is already a few days old when the client reads it. Errors creep in when a pasted figure is from the wrong version. Surveyors spend their time reconciling rather than advising, and the commentary, which is the part the client values most, gets written last and in a hurry.
| Report section | Source today | Source in the build |
|---|---|---|
| Contract sum | Tender workbook | Project record |
| Variations | Variations spreadsheet | Variations register |
| Provisional sums | Valuation workbook | Provisional sum ledger |
| Risk allowances | Risk register | Risk register, with change history |
| Movement since last month | Compared by eye | Calculated from stored snapshots |
The cost report we build
- Your cost report template is rebuilt as a report generated from the project's data, keeping your layout, logo and wording.
- The report pulls figures from the variations register, provisional sum ledger, risk register and latest valuation, wherever those live, whether in SharePoint lists, a database or Excel files we read.
- Each month a snapshot is stored, so movement is calculated, not eyeballed, and each movement links to the items causing it.
- Totals are reconciled automatically and anything that does not balance is flagged before the draft is produced.
- The surveyor gets a draft with figures filled in and blank commentary sections, plus a list of the largest movements to explain.
- Client-specific formats are variations of one report, so a new format does not mean a new manual process.
- The final report exports to PDF or Word for issue, and the snapshot is locked once issued.
The anticipated final cost, the risk view and the commentary are professional judgements. The report puts the figures in front of your surveyor. It does not form the view.
What report week turns into
The draft is ready on the morning it is needed. The surveyor reads the movements, adjusts anything that needs judgement, writes the commentary and issues. Partners can see every project's current position between reports rather than waiting for the monthly issue.
Clients notice the difference in the commentary. With the arithmetic done, the surveyor has time to explain what is driving the movement, what decisions are coming up that will affect cost, and where the remaining risk sits. That is the part of the report a client actually reads, and the part that shows the value of your appointment.
Does this match your month?
- Cost reports are filled in by copying figures from several files.
- You compare to last month by opening last month's report.
- Totals have not reconciled and it took time to find out why.
- Each client has its own template, maintained by hand.
- Commentary is written last and rushed.