Change Order Cost Impact Calculator
Reviewed by Hamza Gujjar, Algorithm Architect & Software Developer
Last updated: July 28, 2026Change Order Cost Impact Calculator
Evaluating a proposed change order? This calculator shows exactly how it affects your total budget and schedule.
New Total Budget = Original Budget + Change Order Cost
Percent Increase = (Change Order Cost / Original Budget) x 100
Example
A $200,000 project with a $15,000 change order adding 10 days:
New Budget = $215,000.00 → 7.5% increase, +10 days
Why Tracking Cumulative Percentage Matters
Tracking cumulative percent increase across multiple change orders over a project's lifetime - not just evaluating each change order in isolation - helps stakeholders notice gradual "scope creep" building up, which is often harder to spot than any single large budget change.
Set a Change Order Approval Threshold
Many organizations set a cumulative change order percentage threshold (for example, 15-20% of original budget) that triggers mandatory executive or client re-approval - running this calculation after each new change order helps flag when that threshold has been crossed.