Gathering the cost information is usually the easy part. Most people know what they are planning to spend, so adding it up won't be too difficult. Unfortunately, it's easy to get confused and start including costs that are not directly associated with the project. Here are the rules to follow:

• Count everything that is directly associated with the project. (I purchased a new server for this project)
• Don't count infrastructure items not associated with the project. (I leveraged the existing network servers)
• Do count infrastructure items that were driven by the project. (The company purchased a server because of this project and two others like it; include 1/3 of the cost)