Forecasting AMP8 Portfolio
Providing our clients with the confidence required to deliver!
Project Synopsis
Thames Water experienced significant volatility in monthly cost reporting across its AMP8 Non-Infrastructure portfolio. This was largely driven by standardised pain/gain (P/G) journal postings issued by the PMO. While aligned with corporate rules, these postings did not always reflect project-specific conditions, leading to large reporting swings and reduced forecast reliability.
Phoenix Consulting supported the Client by developing and trialling a manual pain/gain adjustment calculator. The tool enables Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors to apply counteracting journal entries using the same corporate rules, refined through live project data. This provided a structured, repeatable method to improve the accuracy of P/G adjustments within each reporting cycle.
Following successful trials, the calculator was adopted on live projects and embedded into the monthly reporting process, improving forecast stability and alignment with business expectations.
Scope of Services
Phoenix Consulting delivered:
- Development of a manual pain/gain adjustment calculator
- Trial and implementation on live AMP8 projects
- Integration into monthly reporting processes
- Support to Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors
- Improved alignment with PMO and corporate reporting rules
- Commercial guidance to strengthen forecasting accuracy
Value Delivered
The adjustment calculator delivered immediate and sustained benefits by stabilising monthly reporting and improving forecasting accuracy. By allowing project teams to tailor pain/gain adjustments to actual project performance, artificial volatility was removed and inflated end-of-year spend profiles were corrected.
Ownership of pain/gain accuracy shifted to project teams, strengthening commercial awareness and financial discipline across the portfolio. The solution required no system changes and is easily scalable across other programmes.
Measured Impact:
- Average monthly variance reduced from £2m to £600k
- 70% reduction in reporting volatility
- Improved confidence in portfolio-level decision-making