The Best Way To Cost-Load A Programme

Edniel

There is no Golden Way.
If you’ll better use expenses or an artificial resource depends on:
- Needs for reporting
- Kind of project
- Customer/Management
- General procedures for planning & scheduling which may prescribe a certain way
- Your boss
- ...

Differences due to P6 (may be not complete):
Expenses: budgeted amount; start, end or evenly during duration of an activity, assigned to an account, expense class
Resource related: budgeted amount, rate per unit, curve, assigned to an account, resource code can be assigned, amount may depend on duration in reports difficult to separate from "normal" (non-)labour costs.

Have a good decision!

Dieter

Edneil,

Expenses are always "lump sum" that is the expense amount does NOT change if the activity’s remaining duration changes

Resource costs can be "lump sum" or "per diem" depending on the duration type of the activity.

For example, a drilling job might have a drilling rig at £100k per day, and £250k of material. If the job’s duration increases, the cost of the rig goes up, but the material cost remains the same. Therefore the drilling rig is a resource on, say, a "fixed units per time" duration type, and the material is an expense.

Enjoy!