Cost control only becomes steerable once you measure it – and day by day, not only at the year-end close. This article belongs to layer 3 of the cost-control guide – “measurable data” – and describes the metrics you use to run costs and margin: what each says, why it matters, and honestly: whether you reach it with teamspace and via which analysis.
Prerequisite for almost everything: Contribution margin and margin only compute if the internal cost rate is maintained and every item is captured. Costs that are not booked are missing from the project result – and flatter it. See Set up cost rates.
Three perspectives, three questions
The metrics of cost control sort into three perspectives – each answers a different question:
- Margin: Do we earn enough on our projects?
- Plan/actual & early warning: Are costs running within the frame – and do I see deviations early?
- Documents & liquidity: Do costs flow through cleanly – and is money outstanding?
Margin – do we earn enough?
| Metric | What it says | With teamspace? |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution margin | Revenue minus direct costs per project. | ✅ Direct – teamspace calculates the contribution margin automatically and always up to date (internal cost rate); analysis in Project analysis, Employee analysis, Customer analysis. |
| Average project contribution margin | A quality indicator for the portfolio – how profitable the projects are on average. | ✅ Direct – via the financial/project analysis per project; you read the portfolio average from the cumulative view. |
| Margin | Contribution margin as a percentage of revenue. | ✅ Direct – derived from the automatically calculated contribution margin relative to revenue. |
The model behind the contribution margin is explained in Cost control: contribution margin, recharging & cost accounting.
Plan/actual & early warning – is it within the frame?
| Metric | What it says | With teamspace? |
|---|---|---|
| Planned/actual variance | Planned against actual costs, with traffic light and threshold. | ✅ Direct – a real-time planned/actual comparison (costs, times) plus the traffic-light method with green/amber/red. |
| Forecast variance | Projected total costs against plan. | ✅ Direct – the earned value analysis delivers cost variance and cost efficiency as a forecast; see Project controlling methods. |
Documents & liquidity – does it flow cleanly?
| Metric | What it says | With teamspace? |
|---|---|---|
| Documents awaiting approval | Dwell-time monitoring – how many documents are waiting for approval. | ⚠️ With analysis – incoming documents carry a status (e.g. “To review”); you see the number awaiting approval via the status filter, the dwell time is derivable but not a ready-made metric. |
| Outstanding receivables | Open items by due date – how much money is outstanding. | ✅ Direct – the receivables status and Reminders & credit control show overdue items by stage. |
Common problems
Why does my contribution margin look too good? Contribution margin and margin only calculate if the internal cost rate is maintained and every item is captured. Costs that are not booked are missing from the project result – and flatter it. See Set up cost rates.
Why doesn’t the planned/actual traffic light trigger? teamspace calculates the planned/actual comparison in real time, but the traffic-light method with green/amber/red only kicks in once you set the thresholds. Without thresholds set, the traffic light stays off.
How do I see how many documents are awaiting approval? Incoming documents carry a status (e.g. “To review”); you see the number awaiting approval via the status filter. The dwell time is derivable from this, but not a ready-made metric.
In short: what teamspace delivers – and what you contribute
- Straight from the system: contribution margin, margin, average project contribution margin, planned/actual variance (with traffic light), forecast variance and outstanding receivables. These figures arise automatically once cost rates are maintained and documents are booked.
- With a little analysis: documents awaiting approval – the number via the status filter, the dwell time derivable from it.
- With context from you: the traffic-light thresholds, the plan/budget and every target value – teamspace delivers the actual, you bring the thresholds and plans.
The common thread stays the same: margin and contribution margin are only as real as the promptly captured documents and the maintained cost rates. As maturity rises, single figures turn into a day-current planned/actual with early warning – see the maturity levels in the guide.
Related topics
- Cost control in teamspace Cost control Introduction
- Project controlling methods Controlling Concept
- Financial reports Controlling How-to
- Cost and activity accounting on teamspace.de