2008 NEWS
Capital Program Management - Commentary on the GFOA Best Practices. Part VI
This is the sixth article in a seven part series of our commentary on the GFOA recommended practices for Capital Project Monitoring and Reporting. We have found that the project close out practices vary widely and are often seen as simply a compliance exercise. We see the project close out process as a critical step in effective Capital Program Management (CPM) that includes the Project Implementation Team and Project Planning Team.
GFOA Recommended Practice: Capital Project Monitoring and Reporting (2007) (CEDCP) October 19, 2007. - Project Close-Out states:
- Upon project completion, ensure that actions are taken to finalize project activity, including, at minimum:
- Confirming that the project is closed out appropriately within all systems used to manage, monitor and report on the project.
- Confirming that the established procedures for user acceptance of project work and final project completion have been followed.
- Confirming that new infrastructure assets are properly recorded.
The purpose of project closeout is to assess the project, perform a financial reconciliation, and gain any lessons learned and best practices to be applied to future projects upon project completion. As the project itself, the project close-out needs to have its own time frame for completion.
To gain a better understanding of how we define an effective project close out process, please click or follow the link below:
- Part I:Identify and incorporate jurisdictional and fiduciary requirements…
- Part II:Identify external and internal stakeholder's information needs
- Part III:Plan and design systems to collect, store and analyze project data…
- Part IV:Regularly monitor capital projects’ financial and project activity
- Part V:Report on project status and activities
- Part VI:Project close-out.
- Part VII:Evaluate monitoring & reporting activities
