Service items benefiting all lines of work, such as expediting, drafting, engineering, etc., are also charged to General Conditions. Whenever it is feasible to distribute a contractor's general office overhead, the amount charged to an operation should be carried in a special cost account in the cost ledger, so that the cost reports can be prepared to show the net gain or loss from the contract before this overhead is distributed and the net result after it has been absorbed. Classes of Reports CHAPTER XXIII COST REPORTS The reports prepared in connection with costs are principally three in number: I. The foreman's daily report. 2. The unit cost report. 3. The general cost statement. Foreman's Daily Report The foreman's daily report was discussed in Chapter XXII and was shown to be the report used in determining man-production per day and an aid in investigating causes responsible for low production. This report is chiefly used in the field and deals only with hours and quantities but not the money value of unit costs. Unit Cost Reports These are reports prepared in the office for stating the number of units of work completed and the production cost of each type of unit of work performed. A separate report should be prepared for each operation. The columns on the report are headed: 1. Cost Symbol (meaning the symbol given to a feature of work on the standard of cost accounts). 2. The Feature of the Work (meaning a description of the work, as appearing on the standard of cost accounts). 3. Unit (meaning the unit of production, such as cubic yards, square feet, tons, etc.). 4. Cost to Date (meaning the actual money cost of each feature of the work). 5. Production to Date (meaning the total number of units produced). 6. Actual Unit Cost to Date (meaning the cost as given in column 4, divided by the production, as shown in column 5). 7. Estimated Unit Cost (meaning the value per unit used when the working estimate was prepared). 8. Remarks (used for explanations of results shown by comparing actual unit cost with estimated unit cost). For example, assume that 53,600 bricks were laid at a cost of $1,683.12, which were estimated to cost $25.50 per M. The unit cost report would read as follows: 1. Symbol: M-2. 2. Feature of Work: Common brick. 3. Unit: M. 4. Cost to Date: $1,683.12. 5. Production to Date: 53.6. 6. Unit Cost to Date: $31.39. 7. Estimated Unit Cost: $25.50. 8. Remarks: Due to large amount of overtime. The determination of units of work performed on each feature is made in the field by an engineer who understands the measurement of work. The results of his measurement and his determination of quantities of work are reported to the office. The engineer's reports are simply tabulations of quantities of work produced during the current period and the total production to date. A printed form should preferably be used on which the principal features of work performed in the field are indicated as a reminder to the engineer of the classes of work on which production is to be reported. The number of units of each class completed by the contractor's own organization should be stated while the progress of subcontract work can be indicated in percentages. The working estimate is the best guide as to the class of work to be included in the engineer's report. The quantities given on the engineer's report are used in preparing the unit cost report. The periods covered by each unit cost report depend upon the average time required to execute the work included in a trade. On a large operation, each trade is at work continuously during a considerable period. The reports should then be prepared at least weekly and as soon after the end of the payroll week as is physically possible. A unit cost report a week behind production loses most of its productive value. Excessive cost of work always continues during the interval between the end of the payroll week and the date the report is completed. General Cost Statement The general cost statement on small operations can consist of columns showing successively: I. Feature of work. 2. Estimated cost of each feature. 3. Percentage completed, expressed in money values and per centages. 4. Actual cost to date. 5. Net gain or loss through performance obtained by comparing columns 3 and 4. On larger operations, the general cost statement should have columns successively for: 1. Feature of work. 2. Original estimated cost of each feature of work, as given in the working estimate covering the original contract. 3. Estimated cost of each feature of work, as developed by working estimate and accepted orders for modifications of original contract. 4. Estimated cost of contracts sublet. 5. Actual cost of subcontracts let. 6. Estimated value of work completed. 7. Actual cost of work completed. 9. Loss through performance. Columns 8 and 9 represent the result of comparing columns 6 and 7. "Original Estimated Cost" column contains the allotments given in the working estimate for each trade or line of work. These figures represent the original estimate and should never change. They are taken from the Estimate and Change Orders columns of the cost ledger sheets. Allowances for contracts, material, and labor, are shown separately on the cost statement whenever the allotment is subdivided in the working estimate. The next column on the cost statement gives the total estimated cost of the original contract and all orders received from the architect, the information being taken from the same source as that for the preceding columns. "Actual Cost Contracts Let" is the amount of contracts and orders given to subcontractors and represents the total contract obligation to them. The information is taken from the Contracts Let column on the cost ledger sheets. "Actual Cost of Work Completed" is the total actual cost of finished work. The expenditures for labor and material are the totals of these columns on the cost ledger sheets. The cost of subcontract work is the total of the Requisitions column. The cost statement at this point is simply an analysis of: I. The estimated cost of work. 2. The contract obligation to subcontractors. 3. The actual cost of work performed, both by subcontractors and the contractor. |