CAOP study guide
CAOP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Associate in Project Operations (CAOP) is a vendor-neutral credential aimed at people who run the commercial and back-office side of project work rather than the pure delivery side. It suits project coordinators, PMO analysts, resource schedulers, billing and revenue analysts, and consultants working in professional-services or project-driven organisations. The CAOP study guide has 8 sections and about 2,410 words.
01Project Operations Fundamentals and Lifecycle
A professional services organization runs on a connected lifecycle: opportunity → project contract → project plan → execution (time, expense, material) → billing → revenue recognition → close and analysis. Candidates must be able to name each stage, the record types that carry it (opportunity, quote, project contract, project, task, time entry, expense report, invoice, revenue journal), and what triggers movement between stages.
314 words, about 2 min02Opportunity and Quote-to-Contract Management
The quote-to-contract chain converts a sales opportunity into an enforceable engagement. Key concepts: opportunity stages and probability, quote versions and revisions, quote line detail (role, resource category, quantity, rate, chargeability), pricing methods (fixed price, time and materials, retainer, milestone), and the activation that turns a won quote into a project contract and project.
340 words, about 2 min03Project Planning, Scheduling, and Resourcing
Planning establishes the work breakdown: project → task (or work breakdown structure) → assignments. Candidates must understand task attributes (duration, effort, start/finish, dependency, parent-child rollup), effort-based versus duration-based scheduling, and the distinction between planned hours (the estimate) and assigned or booked hours (the commitment).
296 words, about 1 min04Time, Expense, and Billing Operations
Execution data is the raw material of the whole system. Understand time entry structure: date, project, task, role or category, hours, billable flag, and chargeability.
286 words, about 1 min05Project Accounting and Revenue Recognition
Project accounting connects delivery to the general ledger. Candidates must understand cost rates versus bill rates, burden or indirect cost, and the difference between cost of sales and operating expense.
303 words, about 2 min06Resource Management and Utilization
Resource management matches supply (people and their calendars) against demand (assignments and bookings). Understand resource attributes: role, skill, cost rate, calendar, target utilization, and availability.
288 words, about 1 min07Reporting, Analytics, and Data Governance
Reporting turns operational records into insight. Candidates must understand the main report families: utilization and capacity, project profitability and margin, backlog and pipeline, billing and unbilled aging, expense compliance, and revenue versus billing variance.
281 words, about 1 min08Integration and Operational Configuration
Operational configuration and integration make the lifecycle run end to end. Candidates must understand the major integration points: sales system to project operations (opportunity and quote), project operations to the general ledger (cost, revenue, billing journals), human resources to resourcing (workers, calendars, skills), and expense or payroll systems to project accounting (cost postings).
302 words, about 2 min