Margin should be a daily figure, not a yearly question. Even so, those wanting to control costs better often think of accounting software first – the wrong place to start. teamspace is the tool; it models and automates a process it cannot replace. Good cost control is built in layers, from the top down – first the goal, then the sub-goals and metrics, and only at the end the way it is mapped in the system. This process guide first describes that path and then shows the core process in teamspace.
Guiding principle: The traffic light warns before the project tips over. Costs arise in a distributed way – control needs centralisation on the cost object and daily currency, not a look back at the annual accounts.
Five layers: from goal to lived practice
Before you set anything up in teamspace, clarify the layers above it – and keep one layer below in mind: the people who ultimately live the process. Each one answers a different question and builds on the one before:
- Goal & core question. At its heart, cost control answers: How do we keep costs and margin under control? The goal: margin becomes a daily figure, not a yearly question.
- Sub-goals – three perspectives. The core question breaks down into three perspectives you steer separately:
- Margin: the contribution margin per project is the yardstick – are we earning enough?
- Planned/actual & early warning: make deviations visible while the project is running – the traffic light warns before it tips over.
- Documents & liquidity: capture and approve costs cleanly and leave no money on the table.
- Measurable data. You can only steer what you measure. The metrics of cost control – contribution margin, average project contribution margin, planned/actual variance, documents awaiting approval, forecast variance, outstanding receivables and margin – and whether teamspace delivers them, are set out in Key figures for cost control.
- Modelling in the tool. Now – and only now – teamspace comes in. The decisive lever: each cost element is captured once and carried on three accounts – project (true contribution margin), customer (recharging), employee (reimbursement). No double entry, no media break – that is precisely what makes contribution margin and planned/actual up to date daily at all.
- Rollout & training – the people. A mapped process is still only a promise. “Up-to-date daily margin” only works if the team captures and approves documents promptly – every travel expense line, every incoming invoice. Costs that aren’t captured are missing from project success and flatter it. That takes rollout, training and conventions (What is billable? Who approves?). This closes the loop: contribution margin and margin from layer 3 are only as real as the documents from layer 5. Helpful: Rolling out teamspace in your company and the Costs introduction.
The crux: most people jump straight to layer 4. Then you have a costs module – but without a defined goal (layer 1), without metrics (layer 3) and without a team that captures documents promptly (layer 5), cost control doesn’t get any better, just more digital.
Stocktake: where do we stand today?
Every improvement starts with an honest stocktake: How do we really control costs at the moment? A maturity-level scale helps here – six levels from the yearly view to early warning:
| Level | Maturity | How to recognise it |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Unplanned | No cost planning, annual view only at the tax adviser’s. |
| 1 | Manual | Excel cost plan, planned/actual only after the annual accounts. |
| 2 | Structured | Cost categories defined, consolidation done by hand. |
| 3 | Assisted | Monthly planned/actual, first contribution-margin calculation. |
| 4 | Largely automated | Up-to-date daily planned/actual, contribution margin automatic. |
| 5 | End-to-end | Forecast, early warning, automatic accounting. |
Honestly place your cost control at one level. The jump almost always succeeds one level at a time – and the most valuable is from 3 to 4: only once planned/actual and contribution margin run up to date daily does the traffic light become true early warning rather than hindsight.
Where do we want to go?
The target picture is not “level 5 for everyone”. It’s the level that fits your project size and your cost risk – and that can deliver the layer-3 metrics you genuinely need.
And an important point about working together: we provide the core process – the stages from the cost plan to the forecast are set up in teamspace and proven. But the details – your cost categories, internal hourly rates, traffic-light thresholds and approval rules – we don’t know those, you do. A good approach therefore emerges jointly.
The core process in teamspace
This is what the predefined core process looks like – the control loop of plan, capture, reconcile and correct. Every stage has its own article; the list of steps at the top of this page is the short version.
1. Cost plan & rates. The basis of every margin is the internal cost rate: set up cost rates, commissions & ad-hoc dispatch – plus budgets and cost categories from the cost setup.
2. Capture expenditure. Hours, material and travel costs are booked promptly: capture expenses & material and – as the model behind it – understanding cost elements: three accounts & lifecycle.
3. Review & approve. Before payment, the document workflow runs: review and approve incoming documents, trips via the travel expense report.
4. Planned/actual. Planned against actual costs – up to date daily on the cost object: the project reports show how a project stands economically.
5. Contribution margin & traffic light. Early warning: teamspace calculates the contribution margin automatically; the methods of project controlling explain planned/actual, contribution margin and the traffic-light method with green/amber/red. The steering background is provided by Cost control: contribution margin, recharging & cost accounting.
6. Forecast & correct. The close is formed by the financial reports: expected income, post-calculation (plan against actual per order) and the cost analysis as a projection.
Transition: Billable costs pass automatically into the billing process (recharging); the project margin itself is earned in the project delivery process.
Going deeper
These articles belong to cost control but aren’t needed for every start:
- Cost accounting (KLR) – cost category, cost centre and cost object (for finer steering).
- Generating flat rates automatically via rules – travel and journey flat rates from times.
- Collective statement & month-end closing – close a month cleanly.
- Employee reports – utilisation and contribution of staff.
You’ll find the complete list of all articles on this process at the bottom of the process page under “All articles for this process”.
Related topics
- Key figures for cost control Key figures Concept
- Cost control: contribution margin, recharging & cost accounting Costs & travel expenses Concept
- Cost control on teamspace.de – goals, maturity levels and metrics at a glance