Cost Overrun Watch
Where a project is running over budget, which cost lines are driving it, and what it will cost at completion — with the basis of the forecast and what to check next.
An overrun is a conversation, not a document, so this agent drafts nothing. It puts the variance, its drivers and the forecast in one place, and says in plain words what to look at.
📷 Screenshot spot — a Cost Overrun Watch result for one project: the Outlook list with Forecast cost and its basis, the Phases over budget table, and "What is driving the cost"
Save as static/img/screenshots/ai-cost-overrun.png and replace this box with 
What it reads
- The project's financials — contract value, budget cost, actual cost, committed cost, certified progress, forecast and margin.
- Budget against actual by phase.
- Committed and actual cost by cost head.
- The actual-cost lines in the cost ledger, and the phase names.
All of it as you see it on the project's Costs and Financials tabs.
What you get
For one project:
- Outlook — Contract value, Budget cost, Actual cost, Committed (ordered, not yet cost), Certified progress, Forecast cost (reported) with its basis, Forecast if the rest goes to budget, Forecast if current performance continues, Forecast margin, Budget spent.
- Phases over budget — Phase, Budget, Actual, Over by, Over %.
- Cost by head — Cost head, Committed, Actual, Share of actual %. The budget is not split by cost head, so this shows where the money went, not a variance.
- What is driving the cost — ledger lines grouped by phase, cost head and item, over-budget phases first, top 8.
- Why and What to check.
The forecast is two numbers and a basis
| Basis | Used when | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| NOT_STARTED | Nothing certified yet | Spend so far plus the full budget |
| REMAINING_AT_BUDGET | Certified progress under 10% | Too early to extrapolate: actual plus the budget for the work still to do |
| CURRENT_PERFORMANCE | 10% or more certified | Actual ÷ progress — the rest of the job goes the way it has so far |
Once anything is certified, both forecasts are shown side by side, so you can say "₹X if the rest goes to plan, ₹Y if it goes like the job so far".
Alerts
| Alert | Severity |
|---|---|
| Forecast cost is above the contract value | Critical |
| Forecast to finish over budget by 5% or more | High (under 5%: medium) |
| Actual plus committed cost already exceeds the budget | High |
| Budget is being spent 15 points or more faster than work is certified | Medium |
| A phase 10% or more over its budget | High (under 10%: medium) |
| Spend on a phase with no budget | Medium |
Run it
- In the sidebar, open Workspaces › Finance and click Cost Overrun Watch under AI agents (or find it in AI › AI Agents).
- Choose the Project.
- Click Run agent.
- Read the headline and the forecast basis first, then Phases over budget and What is driving the cost.
Run it every week
It can run itself every Monday at 07:00 — off until your Company Admin switches it on in its Schedule & delivery panel. Each Company Admin and Project Manager then gets a run covering every active project they can read, side by side in a Projects table (Project, Budget, Actual, Progress %, Forecast, Basis, Forecast vs budget, Phases over), with detail for the three worst.
Safeguards
- It creates nothing.
- You need to see project cost to run it. A Site Engineer or QS / Estimator does not see it in the hub and cannot run it.
- A project whose financials you cannot open is left out, never estimated.
- Every figure is the one the Financials tab computes; the AI explains them and is never asked for a number.
Early in a job the reported forecast assumes the rest goes to budget, which can hide a trend. Quote the two forecasts together, with the basis, or someone will quote one out of context.
Tips
- Post costs to the right phase. Spend with no phase shows as "(no phase)" and cannot be compared with a budget.
- Certify progress regularly — the forecast after 10% depends on it.
- An exposure alert (actual plus committed over budget) is your chance to stop before the next order.
Related
- Project costs — the cost ledger behind the drivers.
- Project financials — budget, forecast and margin.
- Budget — phases and their budgets.
- Cash-flow Forecast — when the money goes out.