Module 2 of 12 · Async + Virtual · 1.5 hours
Project Finance 1
Module 2 resources. Start with the two videos. Read the Overview once, keep the Quick Reference open while you work, and dip into the Field Guide only if you want the deeper mechanics.
Module 2 throughline: A project can be on budget and still be losing money. What matters is the gap between what you spend and what you earn.Start here · Module Video
Module Videos
The recorded walkthrough that teaches the module. Watch first.
Available Open →Module Overview
The full illustrated module overview: a continuous, visual read.
Available Open →Quick Reference Guides
The interactive companion: calculators, diagnostics, and checklists to keep open on the job.
Available Open →Additional Materials
Includes the firm economics behind the module, the live BST11 screen, and the one-page summary.
What you will be able to do
- ✓Define GRACE’s project economic model and cost structures.
- ✓Interpret rate structures and utilization.
- ✓Apply BST financial data to evaluate budget, burn, and percent complete.
Tools & resources
Tools & resources used
- Basic Economic Model of the Firm
- Target Multipliers / Factors / Ratios
- Multiplier Mapped Rate Schedule
Listed items are the governance and operational tools tied to this section. Items marked “Participant generated” are built during the work.
The Archetype Lens
On a green budget report, two archetypes relax. One looks closer.
Project Finance is where the Competent Coordinator and the Obsessed Designer quietly lose money, each for a different reason.
Competent Coordinator
Logs and documents instead of intervening. Trusts the meeting cadence over the timely call.
Obsessed Designer
Optimizes for the design. Treats budget, client ops, and team load as someone else’s problem.
People Pleaser
Leads with relationship. Says yes, softens bad news, absorbs cost to dodge the hard conversation.
Accountable Owner
Owns the intersections. Reads signals early, stops work, presents options, protects the outcome.
A phase is 60% complete and 55% of the fee is spent. The report is green.
Notes it in the register and moves on. Nothing looks wrong.
Compares earned value to effort, spots the Margin Gap in week 3, and intervenes while it is $6k, not $30k.
Margin is eroding on a design-rich project.
Treats finance as accounting's job until it threatens design resources.
Reads the finance signal as a project signal and rebalances roles before the gap compounds.
Meet the four archetypes in depth →