Budget Monitoring In Projects

The C.A.S.H Framework How do you improve CASH? Follow my framework: C - Collections Efficiency Quickly collecting receivables allows for immediate use of funds in operations, investments, or debt payment. How? • Implement an automated invoicing system. • Systematically follow up overdue payments. • Encourage shorter payment terms or early payments. A - Accurate Forecasting Forecasting helps anticipate liquidity needs and prepares you for situations that could strain cash reserves. How? • Use financial forecasting software. • Regularly adjust forecasts based on actuals. • Collaborate with sales, operations, and procurement for their insights. S - Streamlined Expenses Optimizing operational costs increases the available cash in your business. How? • Regularly audit expenses to identify inefficiencies. • Negotiate better rates or terms with suppliers. • Use cost-saving technologies or automation. H - Healthy Investment Wise investments contribute to future cash flow, and efficient inventory management frees tied-up cash. How? • Develop a process for evaluating investments. • Use just-in-time inventory management. • Regularly review and dispose of underperforming assets. 👉 Which framework or tactics do you use to improve your Cash? Save this post for later and share it around ;)

Most procurement teams are managing spend wrong. (And don't know which category costs the most.) The challenge: Every pound leaving your business falls into one of four buckets. And each one demands a different approach. DIRECT SPEND - "Cost of Production" ↳ Raw materials, components, packaging ↳ The spend that directly builds what you sell ↳ Miss this? Your gross margin disappears overnight INDIRECT SPEND - "Cost of Running the Business" ↳ IT, facilities, marketing, travel and office supplies ↳ Spread across every department, often completely unmanaged ↳ Ignore this? Maverick spend quietly drains your EBITDA SERVICES SPEND - "Cost of Expertise" ↳ Consulting firms, legal, IT partners, interim contractors ↳ Bought for outcomes, usually paid for activity ↳ No clear scope? Watch invoices spiral out of control CAPEX SPEND - "Cost of Assets & Investment" ↳ Manufacturing equipment, facilities, major tech platforms ↳ Capitalised on the balance sheet, depreciated over time ↳ Get the supplier wrong? You're locked into that mistake for years Let's look at 2 examples: Manufacturing Business: • Direct: £2M/year (steel, components, packaging) • Indirect: £500K/year (IT software, facilities management) • Services: £300K/year (engineering consultants, legal) • CapEx: £1.5M once (new production line) Professional Services Firm: • Direct: Minimal (people are the product) • Indirect: £800K/year (office space, technology, HR) • Services: £200K/year (specialist subcontractors, legal) • CapEx: £400K once (proprietary software platform) Most procurement teams lump everything into one "spend" bucket. Then wonder why they can't find savings. But when you separate them? Direct → Conduct should-cost analysis & protect gross margin Indirect → Consolidate suppliers & drive contract compliance Services → Define scope clearly & link payment to outcomes CapEx → Evaluate total lifecycle cost, not just purchase price Crucial insights: ✓ High Direct Spend? Strategic sourcing & supplier partnerships are non-negotiable ✓ Unmanaged Indirect? Maverick spend is quietly killing your EBITDA ✓ Rising Services costs? You've got scope creep & weak governance ✓ Poor CapEx decisions? You'll feel the pain on the balance sheet for years Common traps: ❌ Focusing on price rather than total cost ❌ Applying the same strategy to every spend category ❌ Weak stakeholder engagement across business functions ❌ No spend visibility to even know where the real problem is When you finally understand your spend categories? You negotiate with confidence. You build strategy by category, not gut feel. You become a procurement function the business respects. Stop managing "expenses." Start managing Direct, Indirect, Services & CapEx spend. That's how procurement creates real business value. ♻️ Repost to help someone in your network. Follow me Tom Mills for weekly procurement insights and get all my cheat sheets like this free here 👉 https://procurebites.com/

The harsh truth: Without proper techno-economic assessment, your net zero technology or project can be *just* a science experiment. Here’s what you need to know. Performing a techno-economic assessment (TEA) from the early stage of technology or project development will support your decision making. It will provide you with key insights into costs, benefits, and feasibility. Here’s a quick breakdown of the key steps in a TEA: 1. Define Your Goal and Scope • What are you trying to achieve with this assessment? • Set clear objectives, boundaries, and a functional unit (e.g., cost per ton of CO₂ avoided). 2. Design Your Process and System Boundaries • Map out the process with flow diagrams and identify all key input/output streams. • Establish clear boundaries to understand what’s included in the analysis. 3. Gather Data for Inventory Analysis • Collect data on capital expenditures (CAPEX), operating costs (OPEX), energy use, and material inputs. • Address gaps and uncertainties in data collection. 4. Perform Economic Modeling • Break down costs into CAPEX, OPEX, and variable costs. • Use tools like discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to calculate metrics like NPV and ROI. 5. Assess Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) • Focus on critical metrics such as: • Cost per ton of CO₂ avoided • Energy efficiency • Payback period 6. Run Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis • Identify the most significant cost drivers and test assumptions under different scenarios. • Identify and understand financial risks 7. Interpret and Present Results • Link findings to actionable recommendations for optimization or decision-making. • Communicate results in a way that resonates with stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, investors). Pro Tip: Combine TEA with life cycle assessment (LCA) to address both economic and environmental impacts for a holistic evaluation. 💡 Want to learn how to build and apply a TEA for your net zero project? I’ll be hosting regular 2-day training sessions throughout 2025 to provide hands-on guidance and tools to evaluate your projects confidently. The first cohort will be announced later today (as I’m screening through 250 applications!) #CarbonCapture #Research #Scientist #Sustainability #NetZero #ChemicalEngineering #Professor

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗕𝗠 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆? Everyone talks about FinOps when it comes to cloud cost control. But TBM? It’s the only framework that provides a structured way to align IT spending - both digital and non-digital - with business value. Today most IT cost-cutting efforts focus on cloud costs. But what about on-prem data centers, networking, end-user computing, software licensing, IT service management, and physical infrastructure? That’s where TBM shines. Unlike FinOps, which primarily focuses on cloud cost management, TBM covers all IT spend - digital and non-digital. That means: ✓ On-prem data centers (server costs, cooling, power, maintenance) ✓ SaaS and enterprise software (license costs, renewals, shadow IT) ✓ Network infrastructure (bandwidth costs, MPLS, SD-WAN optimizations) ✓ End-user computing (desktops, mobile devices, IT support costs) ✓ IT services & outsourcing (managed services, BPOs, contract negotiations) This is what makes TBM different - it breaks IT costs into layers: ✓ Cost Pools – The raw IT expenses (hardware, software, labor, facilities, etc.). ✓ IT Towers – Logical groupings like compute, storage, network, and applications. ✓ Products & Services – The services IT delivers (e.g., CRM platforms, cloud storage, collaboration tools). ✓ Business Units – The actual consumers of IT resources (sales, marketing, HR, etc.). This multi-layer mapping gives granular visibility into IT spending. This enables CIOs and CFOs optimize across hybrid IT environments. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗕𝗠? Most organizations optimize reactively - shutting down workloads, cutting headcount, or delaying upgrades. TBM forces a proactive, data-driven approach by integrating: ✓ Cost transparency – Mapping IT costs to business units, services, and outcomes ✓ Showback/chargeback – Assigning costs directly to business teams for accountability ✓ Unit economics – Measuring IT efficiency per unit of business value (cost per transaction, cost per API call, etc.) ✓ Benchmarking – Comparing internal IT costs with industry standards to identify waste The result? ✓ IT isn’t just seen as a cost center - it becomes a strategic partner. ✓ Cost-cutting doesn’t compromise performance or innovation. ✓ Businesses make smarter investment decisions, balancing cost, quality, and value. Why TBM is still underappreciated? TBM doesn’t promise quick fixes. It requires a mature cost culture, strong leadership, and deep integration into financial planning. And the truth is - many companies don’t want to do the hard work. They’d rather cut budgets blindly than ask the harder question: "Is this IT spend actually driving business value?" The companies that do embrace TBM gain full control over IT costs - cloud, data center, software, infrastructure, services, everything. TBM is about spending right, not spending less. #TBM Technology Business Management (TBM) Council

How much economic value do you think a biochar facility can provide beyond just biochar itself? As a thermochemical conversion platform, it generates multiple value streams. Understanding these streams is essential to structuring viable infrastructure. A pyrolysis unit produces: => Biochar (solid carbon) => Syngas (combustible gases) => Pyrolysis liquids => Recoverable heat Each stream interacts with a different market. 1. Energy recovery Combustible gases can be reused onsite or converted into electricity. Indicative EU benchmarks: Electricity: €60–120/MWh Industrial heat substitution: €20–60/MWh In constrained-grid environments, avoided diesel can exceed €150/MWh effective value. Energy valorisation directly improves IRR and reduces exposure to carbon price volatility. 2. Syngas upgrading With appropriate configuration, syngas can be upgraded into biomethane. Production cost benchmarks: ~€50–90/MWh Market pricing: indexed to natural gas, often with renewable premium where policy frameworks exist. This shifts the asset from a “carbon removal facility” to a renewable gas producer with carbon removal embedded. 3. Pyrolysis liquids Yield depends on reactor type and operating temperature. Applications include agricultural inputs and chemical intermediates. Specialty grades can reach €300–800 per tonne depending on purity and certification. Technology selection determines this revenue layer. 4. Carbon removal and material upgrading Durable biochar CDR currently trades in the $100–250/tCO₂ range, depending on certification and permanence criteria. Higher-value applications such as activated carbon for filtration markets can exceed €1,000 per tonne. Waste management fees can further strengthen project economics. The economic model of a biochar plant is multi-layered. Feedstock composition, temperature profile, reactor design, and proximity to energy and gas markets determine the revenue architecture. 💡 System design defines viability (along with carbon revenue, of course!)

Still chasing receipts from 3 months ago? Your employees hate it, and it's costing you more than you think… Manually processing employee expense reimbursements is still a massive headache for many finance teams. The process is typically slow and prone to errors Most frustrating of all, these inefficiencies are costing your company thousands in finance team hours, missed tax benefits, and delays to your month-end close. Let's tackle this problem head-on 👇 ➡️ Step 1: Create A Clear Reimbursement Policy Start by defining exactly what counts as a reimbursable expense. Is that hotel room reimbursable? Is the economy flight covered? Don't leave this open to interpretation. Sit down with your management team and document everything clearly. Include specific examples of what's NOT covered so there's zero confusion. ➡️ Step 2: Automate Receipt Capture Receipt chasing is the number 1 time-waster in expense management. The solution? Give your team a mobile app that lets them snap photos of receipts the moment they get them. Good expense software will use OCR technology to extract all important data automatically - date, amount, vendor, VAT - without manual entry. ➡️ Step 3: Implement Approval Workflows Random email approvals and Slack messages are a recipe for chaos. Instead, set up automated approval workflows where: -Employee submits expense with receipt -Manager approves with one click -Finance team gets notified -Reimbursement happens on schedule This creates accountability at every step and eliminates the "I never saw that email" problem. ➡️ Step 4: Streamline The Payment Process The final step is making the actual reimbursement fast and painless. Consider: -Batch processing reimbursements on set days -Integrating with your accounting software -Setting up direct deposits instead of checks Your team will appreciate getting their money back without having to ask for it repeatedly. ➡️ Bonus: Ready To Skip Reimbursements Completely? Meet Payhawk While streamlining reimbursements is great, there's an even better solution - scrap reimbursements altogether. With Payhawk, you can link your existing corporate credit cards or issue Payhawk Visa corporate cards (available in 7 currencies across 32+ countries) to ensure employees always pay with company funds and make reimbursements a thing of the past. Your employees never have to front their own money again, while you maintain complete control. The Payhawk platform lets you: -Set custom spending limits for individuals or teams -Create merchant category restrictions (like travel only) -Auto-capture and process receipts in 60+ languages using their AI Payhawk customers save 40+ hours weekly, close books 2x faster, and cut manual workload by 50%. You can find more information here 👇 https://lnkd.in/erBs9zzi === What challenges are you facing with expense reimbursements? Share in the comments below 👇

Gartner emphasizes that successful CIOs transition from reactive to proactive cost management by implementing IT smart spending strategies. This involves continuously rationalizing expenditures, optimizing underutilized assets, and reinvesting in high-performing technologies to maximize business value. To achieve this, CIOs should: - Embrace Smart Spending: Develop a strategic cost optimization discipline within IT to maximize business value and minimize spend. - Establish Financial Transparency: Track spending at the outcome level to better understand its value to the organization. - Set Targets and Benchmarks: Examine how your spending compares with that of your peers through external benchmarking. - Establish Accountability: Run cost optimization as an ongoing discipline with your business unit leaders and infuse it into your organization’s culture. - Use Savings to Drive Enterprise Strategy: Reduce and optimize where possible to help fund new initiatives to drive the strategy of the organization. By adopting these practices, CIOs can ensure that IT investments are strategically aligned with business objectives, fostering sustainable growth and innovation. #CIO #ITStrategy #SmartSpending

Line-by-Line Expense Analysis - 13 Analyses with Examples I recently helped a client analyze their expenses to identify cost optimization opportunities. We went deeper into each account, analyzed transactions, and documented why, what, and by whom. It was enlightening for the client to review expenses in much deeper detail. Some transactions were a bit surprising for them: "Why are we incurring this cost? Didn't we decide to terminate that contract?" When did you last conduct the line-by-line analysis of COGS and OPEX? We focus on generating and analyzing revenues, which is great. However, it is only half the battle won. How are you spending that hard-earned revenue? That's the real question that needs to be answered through line-by-line expense analysis. For instance, in the F&B example, the analysis of COGS is critical to assess the profitability by dish. Once you have the analysis, it can be benchmarked against the industry. The same goes for manufacturing. This is why conducting line-by-line expense analysis is so important. By analyzing expenses through 13 different types of analysis, businesses can better understand where their money is going and identify areas for cost optimization. By examining expenses more closely, businesses can make informed decisions about where to cut costs to maximize their profits and grow. Several other analyses can help you deep dive. What else can you add? Here's what I have covered: 1️⃣ Expense Analysis - Product/Service Level COGS Analysis - Gross Margin Analysis - Supplier and Vendor Analysis - Inventory Management - Production Efficiency - Expense Category Breakdown - Variance Analysis - Fixed vs. Variable Expenses - Employee Productivity - Marketing and Advertising ROI - Lease and Rental Analysis - Energy and Utility Efficiency - Technology and IT Expenses 2️⃣ Four Industries Examples - Hospitality - Shopping Malls - Manufacturing - SaaS #MAKAlpha #TheFinanceMasterclass ------------------------------------------ - I'm Abdul Khaliq - Sharing 20+ years of experience. - I provide Fractional CFO/Controller services to SMEs. - Download my work in PDF by visiting my profile.

Cost-Saving Methodology — Step-by-Step Action Plan 1️⃣ Spend analysis • Pull 12–24 months of purchase or consumption data. • Build a master spend table: Item code | Description | Category | Qty | Unit price | Supplier | Lead time | Quality. 2️⃣ Category mapping • Group SKUs into categories (forgings, machined shafts, bearings, fasteners, etc.). • Run a Pareto to identify top SKUs driving spend (top 20 → ~80%). • Use the Kraljic Matrix to classify items: Non-critical, Leverage, Bottleneck, Strategic. Action: apply a tailored cost strategy by category. 3️⃣ Supplier segmentation • Tag SKUs as Single-source / Multi-source / Long-tail. • Track % spend single-source, % multi-source & % suppliers long-tail, 4️⃣ Multi-sourced items — award by value • Choose suppliers on cost + quality + delivery and assign Share-Of-Business (e.g., 60/40). • Capture savings immediately and enforce SOB in purchase execution. • Optional: run a reverse auction for price discovery. 5️⃣ Single-source items — de-risk & negotiate • Scout apple-to-apple alternate suppliers and qualify backups. • Engage supplier top management — show long-term business potential. • Negotiate turnover discounts, or unit-cost reductions on the basis of long-term business potential. If alternatives don’t exist: secure stronger contractual protections & better terms with the incumbent. 6️⃣ Long-tail consolidation • Identify many small suppliers creating excess PO load. • Consolidate to 2–3 preferred suppliers per micro-category using blanket orders and bundling. Offer consolidated volumes in exchange for better pricing and service. 7️⃣ Negotiation playbook • Prepare checklist: current price, target price, comparable quotes, TCO, BATNA. • Use levers: volume bundling, multi-year contracts, reverse auctions. • Include non-price asks: consignment, VMI, improved payment terms. Goal: consistent, repeatable wins. 8️⃣ Engineering & supplier collaboration • Create cross-functional cost-down teams (Procurement + Engineering + Quality + Supplier). • Target DFM opportunities: material swaps, tolerance rationalisation, part consolidation. etc • Run supplier Kaizen workshops and agree on shared-savings models.

Forget Valentines. You know that Starting a new #Mine ⛏️ begins long before production. It starts with testing whether the numbers truly support the vision. I recently built a theoretical mining project financial model to explore what truly drives profitability when developing a new operation. Beyond geology, project viability is shaped by the interaction between capital expenditure, royalty structures, taxation, basket prices, exchange rate fluctuations, operating costs, and plant recovery performance. It demands a deep understanding of capital intensity, fiscal regimes, and long term cashflow dynamics. The project was evaluated using a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method, where nominal future cashflows were discounted at 11.8% to reflect the time value of money, project risk, and inflation assumptions, enabling comparison of future earnings in today’s Rand terms. In this scenario, total capital expenditure reached approximately R4.5 billion, generating total life of mine revenue of about R27.3 billion against operating costs of roughly R18.3 billion. Early project years were dominated by unredeemed CAPEX, highlighting how significant upfront investment creates extended periods of negative cashflow before value is realised and continues to influence investor risk. Royalty payments of approximately R636 million and taxation of around R949 million demonstrate how fiscal regimes materially compress margins. Even modest royalty structures reduce free cashflow once profitability thresholds are reached, reinforcing the importance of incorporating fiscal considerations early in project valuation rather than treating them as secondary adjustments. Revenue sensitivity to basket prices and exchange rate assumptions showed strong exposure to currency volatility, illustrating how Rand denominated revenue and overall project resilience can shift significantly under different pricing environments. Stress testing these variables is essential for realistic economic evaluation. Despite these pressures, the model generated a positive NPV of R290.74 million and an IRR of 14.68%, indicating value creation above the assumed hurdle rate under the given parameters. What stood out most is that mining profitability sits at the intersection of engineering and finance. Disciplined capital deployment, fiscal awareness, operational efficiency, and realistic pricing assumptions ultimately determine whether a project moves from concept to sustainable operation. Building models like this reinforces how structured financial thinking strengthens technical decision making in mine development. VT_ Building Engineering Competence one Project at a Time. #MiningEngineering #MiningFinance #ProjectValuation #NPV #IRR #MinePlanning #MiningProjects #CapitalAllocation #ResourceEconomics #MiningEconomics #GraduateMiningEngineer #TechnicalAnalysis #MineDevelopment