Using individual tasks’ fixed costs combined with the costs of resources assigned to the tasks, Ingantt calculates the total Cost of each task as shown in the Cost column in the list of tasks.
Task’s Cost = Task’s Fixed Cost + Costs of Resources assigned to the Task
If you don’t see the Cost column in the list of tasks, make sure the Cost column flag is checked on the Task Columns tab of Options dialog.
Summary Tasks Cost
In its Cost field, each summary task shows the total cost of all its subtasks.
However, just like with a regular task, you can assign resources and set Fixed Cost field for a summary task, thus affecting the Cost of the summary task by adding costs on top of the total cost of the subtasks.
Summary Task’s Cost = Total Cost of all the subtasks + Summary Task’s Fixed Cost + Costs of Resources assigned to the Summary Task
Use your project’s root summary task to see and adjust the total Cost of the entire project.
Task’s Fixed Cost
By filling in the Fixed Cost property in the Task Properties dialog you can set the cost of the task regardless of its resources. For example, someone who does the task already has provided a total cost estimation of it for you, or there is some cost of the task, that you need to spend on top of the costs of its resources.
If you need to assign the same fixed cost to multiple tasks, it might be easier to create a Cost resource and assign it to the tasks, especially if the cost can change in the future: you’ll only need to change it in one place.
Resource Cost
By filling in the Cost property in the Resource Properties dialog you can set the cost of the resource, thus affecting the total Cost of all tasks to which the resource is assigned. Depending on the type of the resource, you set the property
- as a rate (like hourly rate of a contractor) for work resources
- as a cost per unit (piece, ton, box, gallon etc.) for material resources
- as a cost in total for cost resources
Any number of resources of any type can be assigned to a task.
Work Resource Cost
As work resources is the only type which has a calendar, the cost of this type of resource is specified per hour, per day, per week or per month.
For example, when you assign a work resource with the Cost (rate) of $100 per hour to a task and your task is 5 hours in Duration, the resulting amount of $500 is added to the Cost of the task.
When a work resource is assigned to a task, you can specify Units value as a number different from the default 100%. This has impact on cost calculations, for example, if Units is 50% then the calculated cost for the resource in the task is half of what it would be with 100% Units.
Material Resource Cost
In material resources cost is specified per unit depending on how you define the meaning of the unit. It can be some weight measurement (like a pound, kilogram, ton etc.), length or volume measurement (foot, meter, mile, gallon, liter etc.) or any other measurement (container, box, piece, square foot etc.).
For example, if fuel is used in your project, you can add “fuel” material resource and specify the cost per gallon for it in Resource Properties. Then when assigning the resource to a task in which the fuel is used you specify the number of gallons necessary for the task as Units and Ingantt adds the calculated cost of the fuel to the Cost of the task.
Cost Resource
A cost resource is just another fixed expense that you might want to assign to multiple tasks. Unlike material resources, cost resources do not have Units when assigning, so use this type for fixed expenses which are not normally specified in any measurements, like installation cost. If you have multiple tasks with the same Fixed Cost caused by the same reason, create a cost resource and assign it to all these tasks, instead of filling in Fixed Cost field of each of them separately.
Currency
If your project uses a different currency than the one that is default in Ingantt, you can change the default currency on the Regional tab in Project Properties dialog. You can specify the currency as a sign (like €), shortcut (EUR), or full name (euro).
On the same tab you can also specify the Currency Position (before or after the cost value, with or without a space in-between).
When you change currency, cost values are not recalculated.