ProjectCodeMeter
Estimating a Future project schedule and cost for producing a price quote
Whether
being a part of a software company or an individual freelancer, when
accepting a development contract from a client, you need to
produce a price tag that
would beat the price quote given by your competitors, while remaining
above the margin of development costs. The desired
cost estimation is the cost of that implementation by an average
programmer, as this is the closest estimation to the price quote
your competitors are offering. Make sure the quote is high enough to leave you some profit above your Internal Budget Plan.
Step by step instructions:
1.
Create a project folder with a collection of files with similar functionality needed in your future
project. Usually take files from older projects of yours, or downloaded Open Source projects from one of the open source repository websites. Note the code DOESN'T need to be compilable, so no need to fix any errors or create an actual IDE project or build scripts, nor adding any auto generated files, and files which
functionality is covered by code libraries you already have.
2. Make
sure you don't have any open ProjectCodeMeter report files in your
spreadsheet or browser, as it prevents these files from being updated.
3. Select this folder into the Project Folder textbox (make sure NOT to select "Differential comparison")
4. Select the Settings
describing the project. Select the best Debugging Tools settings
available for the platform (usually "Complete system emulator") since
your competitors are using these which cuts their development effort thus affording a lower price quote. Select the Quality Guarantee and Platform Maturity for your future project. The Price Per Hour should be the market average hourly rate of a programmer with skills for that kind of task.
5. Click the "Analyze" button. When analysis finishes, Time and Cost results will be shown at the bottom right
summary screen
Use the Project Time and Cost results as the Development component
of the price quote (chart above in red) , add the market average costs of the
other relevant components shown in the diagram above. Add the nominal profit
percentage suitable for the target market. The resulting price should
be the top margin for the price quote you produce to your clients.
For calculating the bottom margin for the price quote, use the
process Estimating a Future project schedule and cost for internal budget planning.