AACE CCT study guide
AACE CCT · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Cost Technician (CCT) is a technician-level credential issued by AACE International and listed on AACE's site under its Technician Certifications, alongside the Certified Scheduling Technician (CST). It is aimed at people in the first years of a cost engineering or project controls career - junior estimators, cost technicians, planners, schedulers, and construction or engineering staff moving into a project controls role - who need to demonstrate a working command of the fundamentals rather than the advanced judgment expected of a professional-level certification. Preparation should centre on the four knowledge areas that structure technician-level practice: cost estimating (types of estimates, cost element structures, pricing, escalation, and contingency basics), project planning and scheduling (activities, logic, durations, critical path, and baselines), project monitoring and control (progress measurement, earned value concepts, change control, and forecasting), and project cost and business management (budgets, cash flow, and the commercial context of a project). Because the official CCT page could not be retrieved when this page was compiled - the AACE URL returned an error - treat any figure here as unconfirmed and confirm exam length, item count, fee, passing score, delivery method, and recertification requirements directly with AACE International before you schedule. The AACE CCT study guide has 4 sections and about 1,077 words.
01Cost Estimating
An estimate is a structured prediction of cost based on defined scope. Begin with the work breakdown structure (WBS), then choose an estimating method: analogous, parametric, bottom-up, or detailed.
256 words, about 1 min02Project Planning and Scheduling
Planning defines what must be done; scheduling places it in time. Build a WBS, define activities, establish dependencies, assign durations and calendars, then calculate the network.
280 words, about 1 min03Project Monitoring and Control
Earned value management integrates scope, schedule, and cost. Planned value (PV) is the budgeted cost of work scheduled; earned value (EV) is the budgeted cost of work performed; actual cost (AC) is the cost incurred.
269 words, about 1 min04Project Cost and Business Management
The cost baseline is the approved time-phased budget used to measure and control performance. It typically includes work-package budgets and contingency for known-unknowns within approved scope.
272 words, about 1 min