Government

Legacy Business Records Project

Generic Plan and Resourcing Template

Costing Guide

Disclaimer: Graphics contained within this document are of poor quality. For clearer graphics please see the PDF version.

Table of Content

1. Introduction

2. What is in the Costing Templates ?

3. Language in the Guide

4. How to use the Guide ?

5. Roles and Responsibilities

5.1 The RACI Chart
5.2 Positions involved
5.3 Project Initiation
5.4 Project Planning
5.5 Project Execution
5.6 Controlling
5.7 Project Closing

6. Effort Estimates

6.1 Fixed Effort Costs
6.2 Variable Effort Costs

7. Estimating the Effort

7.1 Completing the Effort Template
7.2 Salary Costs
7.3 Total Salary Costs
7.4 Incremental Salary Costs

7.4.1 Internally resourced staff
7.4.2 Externally resourced staff
7.4.3 LAC staff
7.4.4 Performing the calculations

8. Non-Salary Costs

8.1 Timing of Costs
8.2 Rent or Buy Decisions
8.3 Fixed and Variable Costs
8.4 Cost groups

8.4.1 Cost per team member
8.4.2 Cost per location
8.4.3 Cost per 1,000 feet of records

8.5 Estimating the Non-Salary Costs

8.5.1 Rental and Purchase Cost Template
8.5.2 Cost by phase

8.6 Total Non-Salary and Salary Costs

9. Conclusion

10. Annex A: Excel Templates

10.1 General Information

10.1.1 Roles and Responsibilities
10.1.2 Effort and Salary Costing
10.1.3 Non-Salary and Total Costing

10.2 Adding and Deleting Rows and Columns

10.2.1 Changing Titles
10.2.2 Deleting Columns / Rows
10.2.3 Adding Columns / Rows

1. Introduction

Before reading this 'Legacy Business Records Project, Costing Guide', please read the:

• Legacy Business Records Project Overview; and
• Legacy Business Records Project, Planning Guide.

The Overview covers why legacy records need to be brought back under sound information management control. It also has basic information about the Guides.

The Planning Guide covers all the steps that could be done in order to clean up the records.

This Costing Guide helps you calculate what you may need to buy or rent and what that will cost.

In addition to the Guides, there are three templates: one for the workplan andtwo for calculating the costs. You can cross reference all the pieces. They all follow a workflow diagram and use the same numbering system.

2. What is in the Costing Templates

This Costing Guide has three parts:

• Roles and responsibilities: who is involved in each activity and how;
• Effort and salary costs: how much time each person will spend on the activities; what that equates to in salary costs.
• Non-salary costs: what you need to buy or rent for each project phase; what that equates to in non-salary dollar costs.

Each of these has a set of worksheets. Each worksheet shows the plan activities and / or the project phases. For more information on the activities, please read the Planning Guide.

3. Language in the Guide

To keep things simple, when we describe the process, we write as if you are the Records Manager until the Project Manager is appointed. This happens when the project has been approved to start. After that, we write as if you are the Project Manager.

4. How to use the Guides

There is a sequence to putting together your project plan and budget proposal.

• Develop your plan:
  
  Before you can calculate the costs, you need to understand what work has to be done. You need to complete your plan.
  
  The Legacy Business Records Project, Planning Guide has more information on developing your plan.
• Assign responsibility:
  
  Once you have decided what you need to do, you decide who needs to do what.
  
  Please see section 1, Roles and Responsibilities below for more information.
• Determine effort:
  
  Once you have decided 'what' and 'who', you decide 'how much effort' it will take that person to do that job.
  
  Please see section 2, Estimating Effort below for more information on how to estimate effort and translate that into Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs).
• Convert to salary dollars:
  
  Once you know how much effort it will take, you need to convert that to salary dollars.
  
  For more information, please see Section 3, Salary Costs below.
• Estimate non-salary costs:
  
  The final calculation is estimating the non-salary costs. Section 4, Non-Salary Costs will guide you through that process.
• The Business Case:
  
  To bring it all together, you add the salary and non-salary costs to create your budget proposal. You also use the information for the Business Case.

5. Roles and Responsibilities

Knowing who will do what helps in several ways. Here are just a few of the advantages. You can:

• Verify that you have the right governance structure. Do you have the right people making the decisions?
• Get much stronger commitment. People who know in advance how much time they will have to spend on the project are more likely to make the commitment and devote that time.
• Get the right people assigned. Team members are more satisfied and more productive if they know what they are expected to do.
• Assign the right work to the right people. It is easier to pick the right people if you can show what jobs have to be done. The jobs will be better done if they are done by the right people.
• Hold the right people accountable. If the division of responsibility is clear, the lines of accountability will follow logically.

5.1 The RACI Chart

The easiest way to see the roles and to make sure all activities are covered is to use a RACI chart.

• R = responsible. This is the person who does the work and who will be held accountable for the results. It could be a team that is responsible.
• A = approves. Normally only one person or group has the final say on an item. They may make that decision based on input from others.
• C = consulted. These are the people who participate. The work should or cannot go ahead without their input. They do not have the final say and are not held directly accountable for the results. They are accountable for the information or advice they provide.
• I = informed. These individuals or groups need to know what is going on but may not be directly involved in the project.

Each section below shows the RACI chart for that phase. The whole RACI chart is on an Excel file.

Most of the roles will be in your institution. However, you will also need LAC's advice and assistance. Even if your institution will not need much support, yours may not be the only project LAC is working on. You will need to talk to LAC to see if they can meet your requirements.

5.2 Positions involved

The positions that would most likely be involved in a Legacy Business Records Project are shown along the top of the chart. These same titles are used on all worksheets in:

• The Legacy Business Records Project Roles and Responsibilities Workbook; and
• The Legacy Business Records Project Effort and Salary Costing Workbook.

You can change these positions to suit your situation. Any changes must be made on all the worksheets in those two workbooks.

Please see Appendix A for information on how to delete and insert columns for the positions.

To complete the RACI chart, you look at each task. Here is some of the thinking behind the RACI chart in the Costing Guide.

• The Project Manager will be appointed when the project is approved. Whether or not there is a full-time Project Manager depends on the project size and the experience of the project team. If it is small, the Records Manager may be the Project Manager on a part-time basis.
• Some departments especially that that run many projects have a Project Office. Project Offices can usually help from start to finish: from when you decide to propose the project until the project is signed-off. They will be able to advise you on how projects are run in your institution.
• You will need to have people assigned to the Project Team. Even if they come from the on-going IM Operations, you will need to estimate how much of their time you will need.
• The R&D Analyst will be a key team member. Even if the R&D Analyst is not on the project full-time, you will need his or her knowledge and expertise throughout the project.
• The Records Manager may or may not be the Project Manager as well. Whatever role the Records Manager plays on the project, that person will participate fully.
• The users or clients are critical to the project. They obviously have a role and responsibility. Both the Records Manager and the clients will live with the project results.
• Most of these projects will have a fairly high profile at some stage. They are also likely to be expensive because of the volume of records. The Director will need to be informed and will likely approve a number of the stages. The person to whom the RD reports may have a different title. To keep it simple, the template just uses 'the Director'. You can change the title on the template.
• Again because of the costs and savings, the most senior committee in the institution will likely be at least interested in the projects. They may even form the Steering Committee if the project is large enough. Although your institution may use a different title, the template shows this committee as the 'Senior Executive Committee (SEC)'. You can change the title on the template.
• At various stages, you will probably want to call on functional specialists for help. These could include:
  • Human Resources;
  • Procurement;
  • Facilities;
  • Communications;
  • Finance;
  • General Administration; and
  • Audit (and Evaluation).
• If another institution is further along with their Legacy Business Records Project, you may want to ask their advice. If you do, they could go under 'Outside Specialist'. Note: if you have to fill one of the other roles under a contract, the costs will go under the position they will fill. For example, if you need to get contractors for your Project Staff, their costs go under Project Staff.
• You will need help from LAC. You can access these services through two individuals. Your Archivist can help you with disposition. The Regional Manager, FRC that handles the disposition of your records can also help. The Regional Manager, FRC will help with records storage and destruction issues. If you need help from other staff at LAC, the Records Manager or the Archivist will make the arrangements.

5.3 Project Initiation

In the Project Initiation stage, there are five major players and two support roles. LAC also has a role.

The roles are:

• The Records Manager has the major responsibility for initiating the project. There are two reasons:
  • the Records Manager is most likely to be the first to raise or respond to the problem; and
  • until the project is approved, there is no Project Manager.
• The Client must be consulted. If you are going to do the project in their office space, the Client will likely want to have a decision-making role.
• At this stage, the R&D Analyst will help to scope the project and estimate the size.
• You will need a project proposal. Before you begin, you may want to get the Director's approval. The Director can approve the project if there is money in the budget. You may need Senior Executive Committee (SEC) approval if it is a major project. Even if it is a minor project or the money is available, the Director may want to make the SEC aware that it is being done.
• The Project Office can give you advice on how to develop the proposal. They can also help with the approval process.
• You may want to consult with Finance specialists on the Business Case. Your financial advisor may be able to advise you on what costs you will have to include.
• The Government Archives Division (GAD) Director can also assist with the development of the Business Case. The GAD Director can especially advise on the non-financial costs and benefits.
• The Regional Manager, Federal Records Centre (FRC) may be able to assist at a number of points. The Regional Manager, FRC can provide information on how many records you have stored in the FRC. There may be information from similar projects in other institutions. The Regional Manager, FRC may have valuable advice on the financial and non-financial aspects of the Business case.
• If you have records stored offsite, ask your warehouse provider (Outside Specialist) how many of your records they have. You should also ask your institutional function/program area the same question.

5.4 Project Planning

There are a lot more players in the planning phase. Most of them have a consistent responsibility throughout the planning.

The roles are shown in the RACI chart below.

The roles in Planning are:

• the Project Manager. The Project Manager was appointed at the end of the Project Initiation. The Project Manager is responsible for getting everything in place for the project to proceed. There is only one exception to this, the project evaluation.
• Outside Specialists will evaluate the project at the end. They could be from inside the institution, for example Internal Audit. They could be from outside, for example Consulting and Audit Canada. The group that does the evaluation should be independent of the project. Not all of these groups will provide advice at the planning stage. It is still worth asking them whether or not they believe an audit or evaluation will be needed. You could also ask what they think could be evaluated so that you know what kinds of data you should collect. This will make their job much easier when they come to do the evaluation. For some ideas on what to collect, please see the Evaluation Phase below.
• The Project Office may be a good source of information especially on performance measures and the workplan. They may also be able to assist in the other areas shown on the chart.
• In addition to refining the inventory estimates, experienced members of the Project Staff are excellent sources of advice on the work approach. They may even develop it for your approval. These experienced staff may become team leaders and be involved in training new staff. They would also do the work on the Records Disposal Authorities (RDA) coverage and retention periods.
• Speak to the Records Manager to see who will validate the classification system. In some institutions there is a person who specializes in this job. If it is not the R&D Analyst, you may need to add a role to the chart. Appendix A has information on how to add a role.
• You will either consult with or keep the Records Manager informed throughout this stage.
• Depending on the size of the project, either the Director or the SEC will be the approval body. You will likely have to at least provide information to both the Director and the SEC.
• Once again there is consultation and information with the GAD Director and the Regional Manager, FRC.

5.5 Project Execution

This phase is the heart of the project.

Again there are a number of players with consistent roles.

• The Project Staff and the R&D Analyst carry out the work. They are either directly responsible or are consulted on almost all activities.
• They work under the direction of the Project Manager. As Project Manager, you approve all the interim deliverables that the activities produce. You sign off each step.
• The Client must approve the Retention Period and must sign off the lists before final disposition.
• Legal Services and Access to Information may need the files. You should consult with them on the final lists for review. You do not want to dispose of files only to find that your institution still needs them.
• You keep the Director, Client and SEC informed throughout the work. You do this under the Controlling function. You do two activities: report on the project, and provide information on the project.
• You may want to consult with the Project Office on best practices for managing and reporting on the project.
• Again you will either consult with or keep the Records Manager informed.
• Depending on how your institution operates, you may have to inform the Finance function specialists on your expenses. You or they may also be required to provide that information to the SEC.
• Once again there is consultation and information with the GAD Director and the Regional Manager, FRC.

Note: with the exception of 'Project Staff' and staff from LAC, all other columns represent individuals. Because later you will need to calculate salary costs, you may want to add more columns at this stage. For example, if you have a large team and will need Team Leaders, you may want to look at their effort at this stage because you will want to look at their costs later on.

5.6 Controlling

This 'phase' actually runs in parallel with Planning and Executing the work. It starts from the time the project is approved and continues until the work is finished.

This phase could also be called, 'Managing the Project'.

There is no flowchart for the Controlling Phase.

• As the Project Manager, you are responsible for controlling the project. You ensure that you keep on top of all activities. You are responsible for providing information to all stakeholders on the project.
• You keep the Director, Client and SEC informed throughout the work. You do this under the Controlling function. You do two activities: report on the project, and provide information on the project.
• The Project Office can be very helpful in this stage. They will advise you on any organizational standards for reporting. They could also have templates for you to use.
• Since this is really all about managing the project, you are accountable to the person or group that approved the project: the Records Manager and / or SEC. Even if you do not report directly to that person or group, you will probably have to keep them informed.
• Project Staff will collect the raw information. They could also be very helpful in interpreting the statistics and in providing information on the status.
• The Client is probably the most interested in knowing how the project is going. You will want to give the Client regular reports.

5.7 Project Closing

Project closing activities may be done in two stages:

• immediately after the work is finished; and
• some period after the project is finished.

• As Project Manager you are responsible for closing down the project. You will be responsible for ensuring that an assessment is done. This could be done some time after the project is finished. You are not responsible for doing the assessment.
• You consult with all those who worked on the project when you close down the activities
• You will be informed when the project has been signed off as complete.

6. Effort Estimates

The 'effort' is the 'hands on' time to get that activity done. It is not the lapsed time. For example, it could take you a total of an hour to complete an activity. That hour could be spent in several smaller amounts of time. You may have to wait in between while others do their part. It could take you two days to complete that hour of work. The two days are lapsed time which is important for the plan timeline. For costing, you only count the time actually spent doing the work.

To balance 'getting it accurate' with how long it will take you to estimate the costs, work in units of portions of an hour. In most cases it will not be necessary to go below a half-hour. If a task will take just under an hour, round it up and use an hour. Similarly, if the task will take just over an hour but less than an hour and a half, round it down to an hour.

There are two types of effort 'costs', fixed and variable.

6.1 Fixed Effort Costs

Almost all the effort in the Initiation, Planning, Closing and Controlling phases is 'fixed'. It does not depend on how many records there are, where they are stored, their condition, or any of the other variables discussed below.

For example, you will need a full-time Project Manager once your project reaches a certain size. You still need only one Project Manager even if the project scope doubles.

Most project management activities take almost the same amount of effort on big and small projects. For example, it takes almost the same to report on a small or a large project.

6.2 Variable Effort Costs

Almost all the effort in the Execution phase is variable. Even in this phase, only the Project Staff effort is likely to vary significantly.

You need to estimate an average cost per record. How much effort each task will take may vary with a number of factors.

You multiply the unit cost by your total number of records to get the overall cost.

For example:

• Volume. It will obviously take more effort to apply valid RDAs to 10,000 linear feet of records than to 1,000.
• Complexity. Different kinds of records will probably take different amounts of effort. For example, a scientific or policy record is likely to take more effort than a standard program record.
• Uniformity. If all the records are the same, you will be able to do the 10,000 linear feet with less effort than if they are all different.
• State of the records. Records that are in relatively good shape will take less effort than those that are not. For example, it takes more effort to work with records that are poorly stored, not classified, or in poor condition.
• Dispersion. If all the records are in one place, it will take less effort to do the 10,000 linear feet than if they are in a number of different locations.
• Expertise. For new staff, the amount of effort should decrease as they move through the 'learning curve'.
• Experience. The first project will take longer than the next. If this is the third such project in the institution, it will take less effort than the first.

7. Estimating the Effort

There are two kinds of roles: passive and active.

Those who are 'informed' have a passive role. You need to know who has a passive role for the communication strategy and plan. You also need it in order to manage the project stakeholders. It is not important for costing unless there are very large information meetings. The amount of time spent hearing or reading information on a Legacy Business Records Project is very unlikely to affect the project costs.

You only need to cost the active roles. Active roles are 'responsible', 'approves' and 'consulted'.

7.1 Completing the Effort Template

The steps you would go through to estimate the effort are:

• Highlight the active roles on the RACI chart. You will estimate effort for these cells only.
• Do your estimates in parts of an hour. Round up or down as required.
• For all phases except Execution, estimate the effort for the highlighted cells.
• Enter the person-day costs into the correct cells on the template.
• For Execution, estimate the effort for all highlighted cells except for the Project Staff.
• If there are different roles in the 'Project Staff' group, you may want to have them as separate columns. See Appendix A on how to change the columns for positions.
• For Project Staff, estimate the average effort to do the work on ONE LINEAR FOOT of your records. This is equal to how long it would take you to do the activity for ONE BOX of records. You need to count all the effort for that activity. For example, it could include listing, inspecting, classifying, boxing and shipping.
• Calculate the average cost for handling records in your institution. You should be able to get this from the on-going performance information.
• Adjust the cost for the factors that will increase or decrease the effort. Please see section 6.2 above for some of those possible influences.
• This is the unit cost per linear foot.
• Enter the estimated number of feet of records in the cell where it shows '1' linear foot. The spreadsheet will give you the total effort required.

The spread sheets are set up so that the total is shown at the bottom of each column as well as on the Summary Effort (FTE) worksheet.

As you enter the person- the spreadsheet automatically converts the person-hours to person-days and then into person-years. 'Person-Years' are more commonly called 'Full Time Equivalents' (FTEs).

The calculation of person-hours to person-days is based on a regular working day of 7.5 hours.

The conversion of person-days to FTE's is based on 220 days. This is a well-accepted, common way of calculating person-years.

This was calculated as follows:

FTE Calculation

days	365
weekends	104
statutory holidays	11
vacation	15
sick and sundry leave	15
Person Days in an FTE	220

The reason for using 220 days instead of 365 is:

• you will pay salaries for the entire period that the staff are on the project;
• during that time, there are days on which they will not be expected to work;
• those days will include weekends, statutory holidays, vacation, sick leave and any other leave with pay;
• since the costs were estimated on the amount of effort, you need to know how many days of paid labour you will need to pay for to get that many days of work.

For example, if there is a statutory holiday during the project, staff will not be expected to work that day. But you will have to pay for it.

All the deductions are for the various kinds of leave with pay. Some are actual costs (for example, weekends and statutory holidays). Some are estimates of entitlements (for example, vacation and sick leave). The longer the project, the more essential it is that you count in the costs of all the days.

Here is an example of the sheet that is used to convert person-hours of effort to FTEs.

There are a couple of things to note on the sheet:

• only those cells that are shown with active roles on the RACI chart have been costed;
• the costs are for each individual with the exception of the SEC;
• the SEC cost is for two hours each for 10 people on the committee;
• these are not 'real' numbers;
• they are used only to illustrate what a completed sheet would look like;
• they are not on the template; and
• they should not be used as a realistic estimate.

7.2 Salary Costs

You calculate the salary costs from your effort estimates. There are two ways of calculating salary costs: total costs and incremental costs.

7.3 Total Salary Costs

To get Total Salary Costs, you convert all the effort to salary dollars. You include the effort of everyone with an active role on the project.

The total salary costs would include people where the work is a 'normal' part of their jobs. Their salaries would also be in another budget.

You may need the total costs if you are going to request additional resources from Treasury Board. The 'absorbed cost' shows the institution's contribution to getting the work done.

These hidden or absorbed costs can be significant.

If you do your costing this way, you have to decide which costs are parts of the project budget. Any salaries that are already in another budget would not be included in the project budget.

7.4 Incremental Salary Costs

Incremental Project Costs would cost the effort for only those people whose salaries are not already in an approved budget.

These costs could come from two sources: staff already working in the institution whose positions will be backfilled and externally resourced staff.

7.4.1 Internally resourced staff

If the jobs will be done by staff already in the institution, you only count their salary if:

• their positions will be backfilled; if there is no backfill, there is no incremental cost and you do not count the cost in your budget; or
• the individual is from another part of the institution and you have agreed to pay the FTE and salary.

Note: if the position is being backfilled, you can either use the project member's salary or the incremental cost only. For example, the Project Manager is an AS-04. The Project Manager's substantive ('normal') position is being backfilled by an AS-02. The AS-02's position is not being backfilled. You would normally use the difference between the AS-04 and AS-02 salaries. You may be able to make a case for using the AS-04 salary.

You can usually use the actual salary for internally resourced staff. If for any reason you do not know a team member's salary, use the top of the range for their classification and level.

Specialists in Human Resources can assist you with actual and general pay levels. You can also find the rates of pay on the Treasury Board website athttp://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/RatesofPay/Ra97_e.asp.

The staff could be seconded from another budget area or another institution to work on the project.

7.4.2 Externally resourced staff

If you are staffing some of the positions from outside the institution, you will normally count the costs. The only exception would be if the person's 'home' institution agrees to continue paying the FTE and salary.

The staff could be hired as casual or term employees just for the project. There may be times when your institution will need the staff to continue working after the project has ended. For example, if the ongoing IM Operations is short-staffed, the person could be hired indeterminately but begin by working on the project. After the project ends, the person would work in the on-going IM Operations.

For some of these staff you will know the salaries. For those whose salaries you do not know, you use the average salary for the classification and level of the position.

Note: if you are hiring staff under contract, the costs go under non-salary costs and not under salary costs.

7.4.3 LAC staff

You can consult with the GAD Director and the Regional Manager, FRC if they would like to have their costs included. If they do, they would go through the same costing process.

This information may be crucial for LAC. While LAC may be able to support a couple of Legacy Business Records Projects, their resources are limited. LAC also has fewer options of having the work done under contract. The knowledge and experience requirements are not commonly found under contract.

7.4.4 Performing the calculations

Since your worksheets have converted the effort into FTEs, you use annual salaries.

For each position, enter the salary into the spreadsheet under the appropriate column. The table below shows some examples. You would enter in the correct salaries for your own situation.

You may need to deal with the group 'Project Staff' differently. As noted above, you could have employees in this group who are at different levels. For example, you may have CR-04's and CR-05's on that team. You can either use an average for the whole team or you can add in columns and do each level separately. If you have not already shown them in two separate columns, remember to divide the effort estimates so that you do not double count.

Using the same example as before, here is the complete chart showing the conversion of effort to salary dollars.

There are a couple of things to note on the chart. The example shows:

• no effort in this phase for the Project Manager or the Project Staff. Even though there is a classification level and salary shown for each, because there is no effort, the cost is $0.
• there is effort shown for the Project Office, the R&D Analyst. Records Manager and the Director. They also have the associated classification levels and salaries. They have a salary dollar cost.
• the Users/Clients, Senior Executive Committee, Function Specialist and Outside Specialist have effort but no classification levels or salaries. You can see how much time they will spend on the project but there will be no salary included in the project budget for them.

8. Non-Salary Costs

You will likely have a number of non-salary costs for the project. Again these will vary with your situation.

When you rent or buy items depends on what you will be doing and thus what you will need. You will thus want to time-phase your budget.

Obviously where you can save costs by borrowing items, you will do this. For all others you have to decide whether you will rent or buy.

In costing, you will also have to think about which costs are fixed or variable. There are fewer fixed costs but there are some.

Your choices on timing, rent/buy and fixed/variable and how you reflect them in the template, are discussed below.

8.1 Timing of costs

When you incur the non-salary costs depends on what you need for what you will be doing.

You will not need all the items at the start of the project. You will want to think through the costs by phase.

Doing your costing this way will help you time-phase your budget. This will give you better management control and information. It will also help if the decision-makers want to take it a step at a time. They can see what costs they are committing to as well as the overall cost.

Examples:

• You will not know until the end of the Initiation phase whether or not you will even get approval to do the project. You will thus not need to buy or rent most of the non-salary items.
• You will not purchase boxes or rent equipment in the Initiation phase. But you might want to order them in the Planning phase so that they are ready for the Execution phase.
• You may want to have at least some of the workspace for the training. This is done at the end of the Planning phase. You can get the rest of the space at the start of the Execution phase.

8.2 Rent or Buy Decisions

Because this is a project, you may not want, need and / or be able to purchase all the equipment and supplies.

You are only likely to buy those that you:

• need afterwards: for example, a new computer system for managing the institution's records if you do not already have one. This could be justified on the grounds that it will help to ensure that the records remain under sound control;
• you will use up during the project: for example, boxes, office supplies and plastic wrapping material; and
• cannot rent or it is not cost-beneficial to rent.

Other items will be rented. This could include items that:

• you need only for the duration of the project;
• are easily available for rent; and
• are cost-beneficial to rent.

Some decisions on rent or buy are obvious: you are not likely to buy photocopiers nor are you going to rent boxes. Some are less obvious: do you want to buy pallet lifters or can you even rent them?

For each item, you make the decision based on your circumstances and the availability.

Tips:

• Speak to LAC, they may know of a project that is finishing where you can either borrow their equipment or buy it more cheaply.
• In the same way, if you cannot rent a piece of equipment but you will also not need it afterwards, let LAC know when you think you will be finished with it. They will know which institutions are going to do a Legacy Business Records Project. You may be able to 'sell' the equipment after you have finished with it.
• If it is not a piece of equipment you will need the entire time, see if you can share with another institution.
• If you are going to do more than one project, work out the cost for all the projects before you decide if it is cheaper to rent or buy.

8.3 Fixed and Variable costs

Just as with salary costs, there are fixed and variable non-salary costs. There are very few fixed costs one example is if you decide to have the evaluation done under a contract. No matter how big the project, you will still only do one evaluation. The cost for the evaluation may be higher but there will still only be one evaluation and you will still only do it once.

The variable non-salary costs are mainly influenced by volume and dispersion. For example volume affects costs: the more records you need to handle or the more people you have on the project, the proportionately higher the non-salary costs. The same applies to dispersion: the more locations there are, the higher your transportation costs. Your equipment costs will also be higher.

8.4 Cost groups

The costs break down into three groups. There are costs associated with:

• team members;
• each location such as general purpose space, office equipment and equipment for handling the records; and
• the records such as boxes, space and storage.

8.4.1 Costs per team member

The costs for team members are divided into furniture, supplies, equipment, work space, and contract costs.

Furniture

This would include normal workstation costs such as desks, chairs, computers, and telephones.

Your Facilities and Procurement advisors may be able to find you 'spare' furniture or the best prices.

Supplies

These are just the normal office supplies. You may be able to get them from the general institutional supplies areas.

Equipment

You will need some technology for both managing and executing the project. You can use Excel for project planning and costing. You may want more sophisticated software such as MS Project to control the project. That may be useful if your project is very big or if it will last a long time. It is also helpful if you will do several small projects. This could happen if you first do a pilot and then the rest in order of priority. If you use software like MS Project, you can link all the projects together to get one overall cost and control. Using such software will give you considerably more project management information.

You will need to capture inventory information. If your institution does not have an automated system, you may want to consider buying one. Having a system will help you with on-going records management. It could also help to prevent the problem of backlogs from recurring.

If your institution has a system, you will need access from the workspace(s).

You may also choose to scan some of the records before disposition. If you do, you may need scanners.

Your IT specialists will be able to help you cost the IT systems, computers, software, licenses and hook-ups needed.

In addition to IT equipment, you will also need telephones and telephone lines.

Work Space

You will need three kinds of space: work space for the project team's workstations, general space (for example, for training or meeting), and storage space. The worksheet divides these spaces into those needed per team member, those per location and those related to records volumes. Dividing it up this way makes it easier to scale your project up or down.

This section looks at space per team member.

Facilities Management should be well involved with your project. They will be able to help you identify what space you are entitled to per team member. They may even be able to help with layout. They certainly can help with the costing. Once you discuss what you need, they will help you get the space.

Contract staff

With cutbacks and restraint you may not have enough people to both carry on with on-going operations as well as do the project. You will probably have to have some of the work done under contract. Such contract costs are non-salary expenses.

Note: Step 16 of the Planning Guide has suggestions for obtaining the human resources you need.

Your Human Resources and Procurement specialists can help you get the people you need. They will also help you estimate the costs.

The worksheet divides contract costs into two kinds:

• Personnel costs: use this section to cover 'time and materials' contracts. These are contracts where you pay based on the amount of 'time' you use. You would use this if, for example, you contract with a service agency to provide you with people on a daily / weekly / monthly basis.
• Services contracts: use this section to cover 'fixed price' contracts. You would use this, for example, if you contracted with a company to conduct the evaluation.

8.4.2 Costs per location

The costs per location are divided into space, office equipment and records equipment.

Space

This section looks at general working space.

Since this is a project, you may not need a lot of general purpose space. You could need some for activities such as training and meetings. Again Facilities Management should be able to help you identify what general purpose space you may need.

Office equipment

You may need general office equipment such as photocopiers and faxes.
This could become a significant cost, especially if you are working in several locations. The more locations you are working in, the more equipment you will need.

Your Procurement specialist may be able to find you the best possible prices.

You could also speak to your Archivist who may know if another department has equipment they no longer need or that you could borrow. A good source for some equipment may be Crown Assets.

If you are only going to be doing a small project and will not need the equipment after the project, you may want to look at the cost-benefit of renting rather than buying.

Records equipment

You may also need equipment such as wooden pallets, shelving, and 'jiggers' (pallet movers).

Some of these items will be useful after the project. You may want to consider the on-going Information Management needs when you look at buying or renting these items. Remember to only include the costs that are related to the project in your budget estimates.

8.4.3 Costs per 1,000 feet of records

These costs are in proportion to the number of records you will be handling. The more records you have the more of these items you will need.

Boxes

You may need new boxes if some of the boxes are not in good condition. You would use them for records that you return to storage or that you transfer to another institution.

Archival materials need special boxes.

Your Archivist and the Regional Manager, FRC may be able to help you order the boxes. You may also want to check delivery lead-time and scheduling if you are ordering a large quantity.

Space

This section looks at storage space.

There is no quick calculation of how much space you will need.

You will need space for holding the records just before, when and just after you work on them. The amount you need and could release could be quite high if you consolidate the work.

It is not just what you need that is important; it is also what space is available. Each location is different. In some you may only be able to store the boxes to six feet, in others you may be able to go to much higher.

Facilities Management will work with you on your storage space. They will help you with factors such as stacking, health and safety concerns, and that this is not 'normal' records storage. You will not just be storing the records; you will need to access and sort them.

You will release storage space. Some may be released during the project and more when the project is finished. You may want to work with Facilities Management to work out a plan and timing for releasing the space. You may be able to release space early and save money. If you can, the savings can go into the Business Case.

Tips:

If you are removing records from rented space, let the company know if you will not be sending the records back. If you do not let them know, you may be charged for that space even if you are not using it.

Transportation

You will be moving a lot of records. You may want to speak to the Regional Manager, FRC and your procurement specialist to get the best price for transportation.

Note: you may have to move some or all of the records twice. They may be moved to the work site. At least some will be moved for disposition.

8.5 Estimating the Non-salary Costs

The template for estimating non-salary costs has three worksheets:

• rental and purchase costs;
• costs by phase; and
• total non-salary costs.

Each of these is discussed below.

8.5.1 Rental and purchase cost template

This is your main calculation worksheet.

On this worksheet you enter how many of each item you need in the column of the phase in which you will need it. If you will be renting the item, you put the monthly cost under 'Rent' and the number of months you will be renting under '# Months'. The worksheet will calculate the total cost for you.

If you will be renting the same kind of item in different amounts, in different phases and for different lengths of time, you need a line for each one. You must insert a line for each case. Remember that if you insert a line on this worksheet, you must insert a line into the other worksheets in the same place. To insert a new line, copy the line you need to duplicate, insert the line either above of below the original line.

For example:

• you have decided to rent desks rather than buy them;
• it costs $10 per month per desk to rent;
• you need three desks starting in the Planning Phase;
• you will need the three desks for six months;
• at the start of the Executing Phase, you need five more desks; and
• you will need those for only four months.

Your first step is to add the row. To do this, highlight the 'workstation' row, copy, then right click and click on Insert Copied Cells.

Before you go any further, do exactly the same thing on the next two worksheets, Costs by Phase and Total Non-salary Costs.

Your calculation worksheet will look like:

You are now ready to enter the information on the workstations you want to rent.

Your entry would look like:

You also decide that you need one desk even after the project has finished. In this case, it is better to buy the desk. The desk costs $500. You are going to give it to the Project Manager so you need it in the Planning phase.

You cannot have rent and buy items on the same line in the template. If you do, your totals will be significantly too high. You must use separate lines. You add a row in exactly the same way as above. Do not forget to add the row on the three worksheets.

Your entry would look like:

There are two areas on the worksheet where what you add is a bit different: Contract Costs and the section on Costs per 1,000 records.

Contract Costs

There are two kinds of contract costs: contracting for a variable number of people for different lengths of time; and contracting to have a specific piece of work done.

If you are contracting for workers where the contract is on a time and materials basis, enter the information exactly as if you were renting. That is, put in the number of people under the units in the correct phase, then put in the cost per person per period under 'Rent $' and the length of the period under '# Months'. Add more lines as described above if you need to. For example: you need six people for eight weeks and two people for twelve weeks, and the cost per person for the week is $750. Your worksheet would look like:

If you are contracting to have a piece of work done on a fixed-price contract, enter the contract amount as if you were 'buying'. Simply enter a '1' under the units for the correct phase and the contract cost under 'Buy $'. For example, you want to have an evaluation done at the end of the project. The evaluation will cost $35,000. Your worksheet will look like:

Records Costs

The worksheet shows this section as the costs for every 1,000 ft. of records. You can choose whatever number you wish. If you want to do your costs per 10,000 ft or 100 ft of records, just change the title and do your calculations accordingly.

8.5.2 Costs by phase

If you have correctly inserted the additional lines, all the calculations will have copied across automatically to the next worksheet, Costs by Phase. Using the same example as above, it should look like:

It is useful to have the costs by phase. This gives you much more flexibility and control.

For example, the decision-makers could initially give approval for the initiation and planning phases only. This will enable you to show them the costs for just those phases. As well, as you read in section on variable and fixed costs, most of the costs in all phases except Execution are fixed. If you alter the amount you will do in Execution, you can still see what the other phases will cost.

The major advantage is that this allows you to time-phase your budget. This is significant for you to have as Project Manager. You will have much better control over your budget when you know what you are expecting to spend when.

8.6 Total Non-Salary and Salary Costs

This worksheet simply brings the previous two together so that you can see everything on one page or screen.

If you insert the salary costs from your Effort and Salary Costing worksheet, you can see the costs for the entire project.

9. Conclusion

At the start of the planning and costing process, you recognized that:

• You can not continue operating with records that are not under sound records management control. It is expensive, inefficient and risky.
• It took years to get into the situation. Cleaning up will take some time and resources.
• Not cleaning up will cost more in the long run.
• The goal is to complete the clean-up projects quickly, efficiently and inexpensively. This means balancing the process and managing the risk.
• The intent is to be in a position to continue operating effectively so that the problem does not recur.

Records help us all operate today. They help us understand our national history and preserve our collective memory. But they can only do this if they are under effective control.

LAC and GoC institutions will work together to bring this about.

10. Appendix A: The Excel Templates

10.1 General Information

There are three Excel Files:

• Roles and Responsibilities;
  [Excel Template - 25 KB]
• Effort and Salary Costing; and
  [Excel Template - 41 KB]
• Non-salary and Total Costing.
  [Excel Template - 21 KB]

Each of these is composed of a number of worksheets.

10.1.1 Roles and Responsibilities

This workbook has the following worksheets:

• Project Initiation;
• Project Planning;
• Project Execution;
• Controlling;
• Closing; and
• a Consolidated Template.

10.1.2 Effort and Salary Costing

This workbook has the following worksheet:

• Project Initiation;
• Project Planning;
• Project Execution;
• Controlling;
• Closing; and
• a Consolidated Template.

It also has two calculation worksheets:

• Converting Person-days (PDs) to Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs); and
• Converting FTEs to Salary Dollars.

10.1.3 Non-Salary and Total Costing

This workbook has the following worksheets:

• Rental and Purchase Costs;
• Costs by Phase; and
• Total Project Costs.

10.2 Adding or deleting rows and columns

On some of the worksheets you may need to add or delete rows or columns.

Since these are Excel worksheets, you need to make the changes consistently throughout a workbook. For example, if you add a row on a worksheet, make sure you do the same thing on all the worksheets in that workbook. If you do not, your formulas will be incorrect.

10.2.1 Changing Titles

You could also want to change the titles of the columns or the rows. To change a column title, simply enter the new information into the relevant cell. You may need to do this, for example, to change position titles on the Roles and Responsibilities worksheet.

10.2.2 Deleting Columns / Rows

If you do not need a column, just delete the title and ignore the column. This could happen if, for example, you do not need a particular position.

You can do the same thing for any rows you do not need.

10.2.3 Adding Columns /Rows

If you do not have enough columns or rows, they can be added.

To add a column:

• place your cursor at the top of the worksheet where the columns are listed as A, B, C etc.
• choose the column to the right of where you want to add the column (i.e., the column will be added to the left of that column)
• left click on that column; the column will be highlighted
• while it is highlighted, right click to get a drop-down menu
• on that menu, click 'Insert'
• this will add a column
• once you have inserted a column, give it a title

To add a row:

• highlight the 'workstation' row
• copy the row;
• right click and click on Insert Copied Cells.