Could you become a Cost Controller?
Two minutes. Your result shows straight away, with no sign-up.
Pick from the list as you type.
Demand steady
What this job is
A cost controller owns the cost report on a project. The project manager decides what to do. The cost controller says what it has cost so far, what is committed, and what the finish will cost if nothing changes. That means holding the budget structure, coding every commitment and invoice to it, tracking variations and claims, and producing a forecast each month that someone senior will challenge. Most cost controllers sit inside a project team on construction, resources, energy or infrastructure work, alongside planners and project accountants. Some sit in a head office and cover several projects at once. The tools are usually a cost system plus a great deal of spreadsheet work. One caveat on the numbers, and it matters here. The ABS has no code for cost control. This page is filed against Information and Organisation Professionals nec, a broad residual category for professional work, so the employment count and pay range shown belong to that whole category rather than to cost controllers. Read them as a rough guide at best.
Pay
A$2,189 a week
This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.
Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
What this role asks for
- Advocate for social service userscore
- Apply person-centred carecore
- Assist with personal administration issuescore
- Attention to Detailcore
- Contribute to protecting individuals from harmcore
- Determine child welfarecore
- Digital Literacycore
- Disability carecore
- Give advice on personal matterscore
- Microsoft Office Suite Proficiencycore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Private lawcore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Process Documentationcore
- Record Managementcore
- Report Writingcore
- Research and Analysiscore
- Stakeholder Communicationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Written Communicationcore
- Adaptability and Flexibility
- Assist children with homework
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Correspondence Drafting
- Electronic Document Management
- Family law
- First aid
- Goal Setting and Planning
- Handle children's problems
- Legal requirements in the social sector
- Listen actively
- Maintain the trust of service users
- Older adults' needs
- Personal development
- Process Improvement Identification
- Provide first aid
- Provide in-home support for disabled individuals
- Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
- Reporting and Analytics
- Screen clients
- Team Collaboration