http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/114541450

Cost assessment guide best practices for estimating and managing program costs

The methodology outlined in this guide is a compilation of best practices that federal cost estimating organizations and industry use to develop and maintain reliable cost estimates throughout the life of a government program. By default, the guide will also serve as a guiding principle for our auditors to evaluate the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government programs. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and others have shown through budget simulations that the nation is facing a large and growing structural deficit in the long term, primarily because the population is aging and healthcare costs are rising. As the Comptroller General has noted, "Continuing on this unsustainable path will gradually erode, if not suddenly damage, our economy, our standard of living and ultimately our national security." New budgetary demands and demographic trends will place serious budgetary pressures on federal discretionary spending, as well as on other federal policies and programs, in the coming years. As resources become scarce, competition for them will increase. It is imperative, therefore, that government acquisition programs deliver as promised, not only because of their value to their users but because every dollar spent on one program will mean one less available dollar to fund other efforts. To get better results, programs will need higher levels of knowledge when they start and standardized monitoring metrics such as EVM so that better estimates can be made of total program costs at completion.

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