| ClearCost includes operating, capital and headcount budgeting (and alternatively supports import or export to and from corporate budgeting systems). Budgets are also maintained for activities, capacity, forecast service usage by end users and charges against SLAs.
The database is presented in ClearCost as an 'operational model' of the IT group's resources, activities, technology, services and drivers - all tied back to the IT budget and reforecast costs. So, ClearCost supports tracking and reporting on budget variations, quickly and simply, through all these levels in the model, not just the traditional General Ledger account structure.
As well as supporting day-to-day information analysis of a Service Management driven IT group, ClearCost lends itself to support for:
- planning
- what-if scenario modelling
- market comparisons
- benchmarking
ClearCost replaces the myriad of spreadsheets and other bespoke sources typically used by internal departments to prepare and manage service financial data not typically maintained in the General Ledger. This tool supports a single set of financial data to produce multiple outcomes:
- Detailed budgeting documentation for informed budget review and revision
- Financial budget information in a form required by corporate accounting
- Activity based budgeting & costing and total costing principles to accurately determine service costs and performance metrics
- Total cost of Service and Service Level pricing, with Unit Pricing information required for charging/transfer pricing
- Demand profiling of Services across "customer" units within the organisation
- Activity mapping to better depict technical and governance processes supporting the organization's objectives
It's easy to see how ClearCost quickly becomes a vital management tool.
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