Complex Cost Estimating Simplified
Cost estimating on complex projects has a way of becoming chaotic. Spreadsheets multiply, versions diverge, and getting everything into one coherent picture requires a painful collection and re-entry cycle where bottlenecks inevitably form as deadlines approach.
- Time-phased to the month, budgets reflect the monthly spend plan and roll up to annual summary reporting, giving the project team the precision needed for meaningful baseline tracking.
- Fully web-based means stakeholders and team members can access the latest numbers from anywhere, without waiting for someone to send a file.
- Role-based permissions ensure everyone sees exactly what they should, with read-only access for those who need visibility and full edit rights for those doing the work.
- User-defined fields let you capture the detail that matters to your organization, beyond the standard data set.
- Supporting document attachments keep backup and basis-of-estimate materials with the numbers they support.
- A configurable sign-off workflow lets you tailor the approval process to your organization’s exact standards.
Less chasing. Less rework. One version of the truth.
Cost Estimating and Budgeting
The Budget Form
The Budget Form is the heart of the Dash360 cost estimating and budgeting workflow. It is where estimates and budgets take shape, resources get assigned, and every dollar finds its place in the project plan. Built the Way Your Organization Works as no two projects are alike, and no two organizations budget and track costs the same way. Dash360 is built with that reality in mind. Add a custom field in seconds, no development work, no support ticket, no waiting.
- The Budget Form’s Details section is 100% configurable by your administrator.
- Add text fields, dropdown menus, radio buttons, checkboxes, large text areas, and even a full rich text editor to capture the assumptions, justifications, and project-specific metadata that matter to your team.
A Clean, Organized Workspace
The Budget Form is organized into collapsible accordion sections so your workspace stays focused. Details, WBS Dictionary, Resource Assignments, Schedule, CPR, Risk Factors, Potential Risks, Supporting Documents, Comments, and Signature Approvals can freeze the entries so they can be approved and no changes can be made.
Enter Data Your Way: Through the Interface or with Excel Imports
Whether your team prefers to work directly in the Dash360 interface or bring data in from Excel, the Budget Form supports both. The intuitive interface provides a quick way to linearly spread costs evenly month over month in one click, or assign specific values to any month to build a profile that reflects how work actually happens. And with a robust Excel import/export feature users can use Excel for creating spend plans.
Unlimited Custom Fields & Bottoms-up Contingency Estimation
Every resource assignment carries as much detail as your project demands. Enter basis of estimate narratives, contingency factors & multipliers, comments, supporting documents, and more, keeping all the context right where it belongs.
Everything That Justifies the Number
At-a-glance budget rollup, right where you need it. The sticky note summary floats on the page as you scroll, keeping total labor, non-labor, and travel costs alongside contingency value and total estimate always visible. Build your non-labor estimate line by line with direct costs, unit pricing, contingency amounts, and basis codes all captured in one place, giving your team the full picture without ever leaving the form.
Cost & Schedule Integration Has Never Been Easier
See exactly which resources are assigned to each activity in the schedule. The Schedule section of the Budget Form expands each activity to show its full list of resource assignments, linking your cost estimate directly to the work being performed so there’s no disconnect between the budget and the schedule. With duration, percent complete, and earned value all visible alongside the resource detail, your team has everything needed to assess progress and cost performance in one place.
Signature Approvals for Work Package Authorization
When the estimate is ready, Dash360’s Signature Approval workflow takes over. Entries are frozen the moment an estimate enters the approval cycle, advancing it toward a formal Work Authorization Document. Reviewers and approvers can sign with confidence knowing the numbers have not changed under their feet. Every step in the chain is documented, timestamped, and tied to the cost on record at that moment.
Need To Make A Change? Restart the sign-off process to unlock the work package and make changes again. Dash360 will keep track of previous signoffs including dates & total cost.
The Work Package Report: Where it all comes together.
Summary and detail for each work package, all in one place.
The Work Package Report provides summary information for each work package that can be expanded to detail layers, giving your team a complete, consolidated view of each work package’s full cost picture on a single screen. No navigating between screens. No piecing together data from multiple sources.
Everything That Matters, On One Screen
WBS context, cost summaries by labor, non-labor, and travel, time-phased budgets, schedule tasks, earned value metrics, contingency breakdowns, supporting attachments, and signature approvals are all visible together the moment you land on the page.
Time-phased views at every level. Easily switch between yearly, quarterly, and monthly views of your cost data instantly. Whether you are presenting to leadership or verifying a CAM’s monthly spend profile, the right level of detail is one click away.
A Perfect Blend of Summary & Detail
Rounding out the Work Package Report is a complete view of schedule activities, CPR performance data, user-defined fields, and all attached files and links.
- User Defined Fields. Project-specific details like estimator, location, and any custom fields configured for your project.
- Schedule Activities. All linked activities with start and finish dates, displayed directly within the work package.
- CPR Data. Current period and cumulative EV metrics, including SV, CV, BAC, and variance at completion.
- Attachments and File Links. BOEs, vendor quotes, planning spreadsheets, and external references, all consolidated at the work package level and accessible in one place.
Summary or Detailed Modes
Toggle between Summary and Detailed modes to match your audience. Summary mode delivers a clean, high-level cost snapshot for stakeholder reviews. Detailed mode expands into individual resource assignments with rates, hours, and costs, giving estimators and reviewers everything needed to verify the numbers line by line
WBS Summary Report: The Project at a Glance
Dash360’s suite of Budget Reports gives your team a complete set of pre-built reports to review, analyze, and present your cost estimate and budget at every level of the project.
WBS Summary: Charts & Data Tables Tell the Whole Story
Get the full visual story of your project estimate at a glance. Cost by estimate type, costs by resource type, stacked FTE by discipline, and stacked subtotals by discipline are all presented together in a single dashboard view. Complete with a tabular view of the data and always available for a quick download to Excel.
Cost Summary Report
See a summary version of your entire project cost structure organized by WBS hierarchy, with every work package’s labor, non-labor, travel, contingency, and total costs rolled up and expandable at every level. Collapse to a high-level summary or drill all the way down to individual work packages. Filter by WBS level, cost class, and more, and export to Excel in one click.
Contingency Assignment Report: Bottoms Up Contingency Calculations
See every contingency assignment across the project, broken down by the technical, cost, and schedule risk factors that drive each percentage. Rolled up through the WBS hierarchy so you can audit contingency coverage at any level, from individual resource assignments all the way to the project total.
Project Explorer: Dig Deeper with Time-phased Views
Drill into the fully burdened cost detail behind every resource assignment. FTE, hours, direct costs, escalation, fringe, and indirect charges are all broken out by resource and work package across the fiscal year timeline. When you need to understand exactly what is driving a number, the Project Explorer has the answer.
Staffing Plan Report: Know Who You Need and When
View your full FTE distribution year by year or month by month, broken out by individual resource across the project timeline. Spot over-allocations before they become problems, cross-reference your staffing plan against the schedule to make sure the two align, and share a clean, exportable workforce picture with sponsors and the Project Management Team.
WBS Tree: Your Project Structure
Every WBS element in your project is displayed as an expandable, collapsible visual hierarchy.
WBS Dictionary Data Entry: Built for the Way Your Team Works
Every project needs a WBS Dictionary, and Dash360 makes collecting that data fast and painless. Using the same configurable field types available throughout the platform, including text fields, dropdowns, radio buttons, checkboxes, large text areas, and a full rich text editor, your administrator can build a WBS Dictionary form that captures exactly what your project requires. Set up in minutes, 100% flexible, and ready for your team without a separate document or spreadsheet in sight.
