Chapter 16: Auditing and Validating the Cost Estimate

Chapter 3 describes how the cost estimating best practices can be mapped to an overall process of established methods that result in high-quality cost estimates. By following the 12-step cost estimating process, agencies should be able to produce reliable estimates that can be clearly traced, replicated, and updated to better manage their programs and inform decision-makers of the risks involved.

In this chapter, we expand on the relationship between the four characteristics of high-quality, reliable cost estimates; and the 18 best practices. We also describe how the 12-step cost estimating process, its associated tasks, and best practices can be used by auditors and other evaluators to establish 1) the reliability of a life cycle cost estimate, and 2) the quality of an agency’s process, guidance, and regulations for creating and maintaining an estimate.