Controls Workbench

Ten workbenches. One integrated record.

Each workbench does one controls job well. All of them read and write the same control accounts, periods and baseline, so schedule, cost, risk and change stay integrated as the programme moves, not just at month end.

Stage 1

Set up

Structures, scope and the locked baseline everything else hangs from.

Data Structures

The coding spine every other workbench hangs from.

  • Programmes and projects with their attributes
  • WBS, OBS, CBS, risk, location and asset breakdown structures
  • A visual map to connect structures programme by programme
  • Control accounts and work packages at WBS × OBS intersections

Scope

What is in, what is out, and what you assumed.

  • Scope statements per project
  • WBS dictionary with deliverables and acceptance criteria
  • Assumptions with validate-by dates, flagged when they lapse or prove wrong
  • Exclusions agreed in writing

Baseline

Turn plan, estimate and risk into one performance measurement baseline.

  • Integrate schedule, estimate and control accounts
  • Cost-load and time-phase the budget
  • Risk-test it with schedule and cost risk analysis
  • Validate, pass the gates and lock versioned baselines
Stage 2

Plan, deliver and control

Time, cost and risk, then performance, change and the seams between projects.

Schedule

Schedules from any planning tool, checked and compared period by period.

  • Imports P6 XER, PMXML and Microsoft Project XML
  • Gantt, time–location and resource views
  • DCMA 14-point quality checks
  • Period updates with finish movement and baseline variance

Estimating

Estimates you can defend line by line.

  • Estimate lines with basis of estimate
  • AACE estimate classes
  • Rate library and benchmarks
  • Compare versions and keep the history

Risk

One register from portfolio down to project, with numbers behind it.

  • Risk registers at portfolio, programme and project level
  • Responses and owned actions
  • Monte Carlo schedule and cost risk analysis (QSRA and QCRA)
  • Issues and decisions logs

Cost

Budget to forecast on the same control accounts as the schedule.

  • Budgets, actuals, commitments and procurement
  • Cashflow and time-phased forecasts
  • Earned value on EIA-748 principles, with CPI, SPI and a choice of EAC methods
  • Contingency and management reserve with a draw ledger

Change

Every change from early warning to an allocated budget.

  • Trends, change requests and variations
  • NEC compensation events with contract clocks, and FIDIC variations
  • Change log allocated to control accounts
  • Delay analysis

Interface

The handovers between projects, managed like deliverables.

  • Interface register with need and forecast dates
  • Interface agreements and who signs them
  • Interface issues with owners and due dates
  • Links to interface risks and the schedules on both sides
Stage 3

Report

Monthly reports and exports.

Reporting

The monthly report, assembled from the record rather than retyped.

  • Monthly project and portfolio reports
  • Period close across every project
  • Issued reports kept as a record
  • Excel exports and a live feed for Power BI, Tableau or Excel

What keeps it integrated

The parts that make it one system rather than ten tools.

Controls check

Runs on a schedule you set and reviews every workbench for late updates, overspends, overdue actions and numbers that disagree.

  • New, continuing and resolved findings each run
  • Drafted actions with owners and due dates
  • Email summary to admins and a weekly digest to owners

AI that stays in its lane

AI drafts actions, narratives and summaries from your data. People decide, and the numbers come from the record, not the model.

  • Use your own key with Anthropic, OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini and others
  • Daily allowances per person and per company
  • Can be switched off for a company

Access and security

Sign in with your Microsoft work account. Each company's data is kept separate by the database's access rules.

  • Admin, contributor and viewer roles
  • Only admins close and lock reporting periods
  • Activity log of who changed what

In and out

Bring your existing data in and take everything out again.

  • P6 XER, PMXML and Microsoft Project XML schedules
  • Excel exports from every register and report
  • A live feed for Power BI, Tableau or Excel

Ready to see it with real data?

A demo runs on a populated sample portfolio: six programmes, twenty-seven projects, a baseline and six period updates on each.