What is a cost baseline?

Cost Baseline is an approved project cost plan that serves as the basis for budget control and management. It represents the distribution of the budget over time periods and project tasks.

Main characteristics:

• Formed based on the estimated cost of all work and resources.
• Used to compare actual costs with planned costs.
• Part of the overall cost management plan.

Example: if a project is scheduled for 12 months with a total budget of 1,200,000 rubles, the cost baseline can be divided into monthly budgets of 100,000 rubles, allowing tracking whether the project stays within the planned costs at each stage.