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Description

Management Control in Services: Measuring Activity, Costing and Budgeting

Costing an activity with no physical product, where the main cost remains the time spent by your teams

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

In a services business there is no bill of materials and no production routing. Cost depends on time spent and on how that time is valued, yet timesheets are often submitted late or filled in approximately. The profitability of an assignment is frequently discovered only once it has been closed.

Two days to put in place management control methods for a services environment: cost units, valuing time, utilisation rates, activity budgets and assignment profitability tracking. The case study running through the programme is based on a professional services firm.

Learning objectives

  • Identify the cost drivers specific to service activities
  • Define cost units suited to an intangible service
  • Value time spent and build an hourly rate
  • Track assignment profitability from kick-off to closure
  • Build the budget of a service activity and its underlying assumptions

What makes this programme different

The hourly rate of a team is built step by step through to the selling price
The profitability of several assignments is analysed from a timesheet report handed out in the session
Timesheet capture difficulties are addressed with solutions you can apply on return to work

Programme

1Specific Features of Service Activities

Understanding where cost is created

  • Assess the weight of time and of structural overheads
  • Identify the cost drivers of an intangible service
  • Measure the effect of seasonality on workload
  • Position the relationship between available capacity and revenue

2Cost Units and Valuing Time

Putting a price on what is not material

  • Select cost units that genuinely represent the activity
  • Build a fully loaded hourly cost by staff category
  • Calculate the utilisation rate and billable time
  • Handle non-productive time and gaps between assignments

3Tracking Assignment Profitability

Knowing whether the engagement actually paid off

  • Track time consumed against time sold
  • Calculate the margin of a fixed-price assignment and then of a time-and-materials assignment
  • Detect overruns while the assignment is still running
  • Analyse profitability by client and by type of service

4Activity Budget and Dashboard

Forecasting activity and monitoring delivery

  • Build the budget from workload assumptions
  • Plan recruitment and available capacity
  • Define the indicators used to steer the activity
  • Organise the monthly review with the managers in charge

Who is it for

Management controllers new to the role · administrative managers · finance officers and managers of service activities.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.