AAOM Handbook

ES.09 Create/Update Expenditure Schedule (costed OMS working revision)

Context

The Operational Planning process has culminated in the creation and modelling of a costed Operating Master Schedule (OMS) that has been iterated to align with the Business Expectations. Delivery of those Business Expectations requires that the Work Management process apply discipline in ensuring that all work undertaken is consistent with the Operational Planning outcomes. Control of commitments during Work Approval is the foundation for this. Work Approval therefore requires a reference ‘document’ against which approval decisions can be tested. This ‘document is referred to as an ExPenditure Schedule (EPS), since it shows the activities, timing and cost estimates approved for delivery of the Business Expectations. For work approval to be made effectively the EPS must show, in addition to the approved/forecast activities, timing and cost estimates, the actual commitments made to date – both activity frequency and costs. Hence approval decisions are made on the basis of actual information up to the current time and an approved forecast into the future. Since this actual data is also necessary for the Operational Planning process the Operating Model flowsheets show this information flowing through the Set Operating Master Schedule and Set Expenditure Schedule process flows to the Work Approval reference EPS. The actual commitment data update period is determined by the work Approval Process needs and consequently should not be less frequent than daily. A properly functioning Operational Planning process should be continuous, with input from Business Expectations and feedback from Work Management and process performance driving the ongoing development of scenarios and strategies. To balance the needs for continuous improvement with stability in the process the rate at which changes to approved forecasts are fed through from Operational Planning to Work Management needs to be managed. One means of doing this in the Operating Model is to control the frequency of forecast revisions to the EPS. Hence, even while the Operational Planning process is developing and testing scenarios and strategies via modelling, the Work Management process operates with stability to an EPS that is updated with actual commitments on a continuous basis and forecasts in a controlled manner. A typical EPS forecast update interval is around 3 months.

This activity is the creation and updating of the Work Approval reference document – the ExPenditure Schedule.

Purpose

To create a document that can be used to test decisions to approve work.

© McAlear Management Consultants 2006

Operational Planning: Set Expenditure Schedule

Updated: August 2018

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