Project Costing in Zymmr

Overview

The Project Costing feature in Zymmr provides a comprehensive toolkit for managing and tracking all financial aspects of your projects. From setting budgets to monitoring resource costs and logging expenses, it ensures you have a clear and accurate view of your project's financial health.

Accessing Project Costing

1. From your project list, select the project for which you want to manage costs.
2. Navigate to Project Settings by clicking the settings icon on the right.
3. From the settings menu, choose the Costing item.

The Costing Dashboard

Upon entering the Costing section, you are presented with a dashboard that provides a financial snapshot of your project.

Component	Description
Project Resource Costs	Displays the cumulative cost of resources based on their hourly rates.
Budget Pie Chart	A visual representation of the total budget versus the expenses incurred.
Expenses Table	A detailed table of expenses, which can be viewed in daily, weekly, or monthly formats.

Managing Project Costs

Adding the Budget

1. Select the Budget menu item.
2. Enter the total budget amount for the project.
3. Select the appropriate currency and click Save.

Maintaining Resource Costs

This section allows you to set project-specific rates for your team members.

1. Click Add a Resource and select a team member who has been added to the project.
2. Their default hourly rate (from their user profile) will be shown.
3. You can enter a different Hourly Rate if the resource's cost is specific to this project.

Reviewing Resource Expenses

1. Navigate to the Resource Expenses menu.
2. This view shows the calculated cost of resources based on the time they have logged on work items (Time Logged × Hourly Rate).

Adding Project Expenses

For costs not related to resource time (e.g., software licenses, hardware).

1. Click on the Expense menu item.
2. Add a new project expense and enter the associated cost details.

Example Use Case

Scenario

You need to manage the financials for a "Website Redesign" project, including setting a budget, tracking developer costs, and logging external expenses.

Steps

1. Choose Project: Select the "Website Redesign" project.
2. Access Costing: Navigate to Project Settings → Costing.
3. View Dashboard: Review the pie chart for a quick budget overview.
4. Add Budget: Go to the Budget menu and enter the total project budget (e.g., $50,000 USD).
5. Manage Resource Costs: Add your developers to the resource cost list, setting their project-specific hourly rates if needed.
6. Review Resource Expenses: Periodically check the Resource Expenses view to see how costs are accumulating based on your team's logged time.
7. Add Other Expenses: In the Expense menu, add costs for items like stock photography licenses or a new server.

Stay on Budget

By diligently utilizing the project costing feature, you can accurately track and manage your project's financials. This ensures you stay within budget and have a clear understanding of where your resources are being allocated.