The Definitive Guide to Project Management: The fast track to getting the job done on time and on budget (2nd Edition)

We said at the start of this chapter that the general aim of this chapter was rather to give the practising project manager enough of an introduction to the subject of project cost management so that they know what needs to be done, not so that they can necessarily do it. An indication of the level of knowledge that is necessary for making a career of project financial evaluation and budgeting is given by the standard textbooks for the field, two of which are:

• Brealey, R.A. and Myers, S., 1996. Principles of Corporate Finance. New York: McGraw-Hill.

• Ross, S.A., Westerfield, R.W. and Jaffe, J.F., 1995. Corporate Finance. Mason, OH: Thomson/Nelson, Irwin.

The subject of management and cost accounting is an older and larger discipline than project management, and its principles, or comparable general accounting principles, need to be mastered before making any serious attempt on the corporate finance textbooks listed above. Two leading textbooks are:

• Hansen, D.R. and Mowen, M.M., 2005. Management Accounting: The Cornerstone of Business Decisions. Mason, OH: Thomson/Nelson, South Western College Publishing.

• Horngren, C.T., 2005. Management and Cost Accounting (3rd edn). Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.

Project managers who come from the IT sector and wish to use project management as a means of escaping from IT might like to consider, after they have qualified in project management, studying for the CIMA management accounting qualification, details of which can be found on the CIMA website at http://www.cimaglobal.com/.