GlossaryKind of term: Cost and economicsActuals
What are actuals?
Actuals are what an order really cost in hours, material and subcontract work, collected after the job and set against the estimate line by line.
The comparison is also called post-calculation or a job cost review. Actuals cover hours booked per operation and per machine, the stock actually issued, subcontract invoices, and scrap and rework as far as they were booked. On a long order the comparison can also be made while the job is still running. Explaining the differences is a separate step: variance analysis.
What do actuals depend on?
Actuals are only as detailed as the booking behind them: hours on the order total cannot show which operation overran. Not everything in the actuals is measured. Hours are counted or booked, but they are usually valued at the rate used in the estimate, and that rate allocates costs rather than measuring them. How setup time is spread across the parts and how offcuts are charged are conventions too. Estimate and actuals have to follow the same conventions, or you end up comparing two different things.
How do actuals work in practice?
Line by line you see which operation, setup or subcontract step moved; in the order total an overrun and a saving can cancel out. One order that differs is not yet a reason to change a standard: a broken cutter, a breakdown or proving out the first-off can explain the gap. When the same difference returns on the same operation, an adjustment is defensible, and you record why. If you spread setup time over the batch, a difference in setup time mainly affects the small quantities in the quantity breaks; a difference in machining time carries through to every part.
What are actuals often confused with?
Actuals are not time booking: time booking supplies the hours, the actuals set them against what was estimated. Nor are they variance analysis: the actuals establish the gap with the estimate, variance analysis splits it by cause, such as price, usage and volume.
How do you see actuals in Blake?
In Blake the estimate for a part is split into separate lines for material, machining, finishing, setup and programming, per piece and per batch, and labelled as an estimate. A quote version exports as PDF, CSV or JSON. More on estimating.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need before I can run actuals on an order?
Hours per operation and per machine, the material actually used, subcontract invoices, and booked scrap and rework. Just as important is that estimate and actuals use the same lines and the same conventions.
What do I do when the actuals differ from the estimate?
Find the cause line by line first: a breakdown, a first-off, a changed route or a standard that was too tight. Only a difference that recurs on the same operation is a reason to change its standard. Record why when you do.
Why do the estimate and the actuals use the same lines?
Because only then can you see per operation what moved. One total before and one total after tell you that the price was off, not where.