Melbourne, Victoria -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/12/2013 --Studies continue to show schedule overruns and budget blowouts are more the norm than the exception when it comes to managing projects. Having skilled people and tight processes is part of the story about running successful projects. However, the best people and processes are still prone to failure if the only tools available belong in the last century. It is in this context that Business Performance P/L this week offered the latest version of their highly functional project management tool.

Project Master strikes a welcome balance between the overly simple task lists pretending to be project management tools and the complex, overblown and expensive behemoths. Based on Microsoft Excel, Project Master combines a familiar interface with a light footprint. Speaking at the launch, Managing Director, Leslie Allan, said, “Many of the smaller and simpler tools fail to manage project risks, issues and proposed changes. These are critical project management tasks that are often forgotten at the peril of less experienced project managers. Project Master gives project managers the tools to manage these key processes in a straightforward way that doesn't break the budget.”

The core project activities are also handled effectively and efficiently. Project Master manages the project schedule, calculating task start and end dates, drawing a project timeline (Gantt Chart) and displaying milestones. It also manages the project budget, recording costs and comparing them to forecast expenditure. Project Master shines with its array of project reports and key performance charts.

This new version sees the introduction of many new features and enhancements. Allan explains, “Our developers worked hard to rewrite the code from the ground up. Project managers will most appreciate the new click ‘n’ go reports, the data import and export functions and the New Project wizard. Organizations will no longer need to decide on the US or the UK version. The one version will now detect automatically the customer’s location and show cost data in their local currency.”

Project Master requires Microsoft Windows XP or later and Microsoft Excel 2007 or later. The software is supplied complete with a comprehensive 63 page User Guide, Quick Start Guide and import template for importing data from other databases. Business Performance P/L has also made available a try before you buy version of Project Master. The sample project file is populated with real life project data and is fully functional. Project Master and the free trial version are available for download from the Business Performance P/L website at http://www.businessperform.com/project-master