PK0-005 Practice Question: Basics of IT Infrastructure and IT Project Management
An IT project manager is building the cost baseline for a data center hardware refresh. The sponsor wants a single document that shows the total approved budget, the amount allocated to each work package over time, and the reserve for unplanned risks. Which artifact should the project manager produce?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming the business case or bill of materials serves as the budget control document, when only the cost baseline carries the approved time-phased funding and reserves.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Cost baseline
The cost baseline is the approved, time-phased budget that shows total funding, distribution by work package, and contingency reserve for known risks, making it the correct artifact for the sponsor's request. The bill of materials, business case, and responsibility assignment matrix address components, justification, and roles respectively, and none of them presents an approved budget with reserves.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Business case
Why it's wrong here
The business case justifies why the project should be undertaken, capturing expected benefits, costs, and risks at a strategic level. It is created before or alongside the charter and is not updated as a control document during execution. It does not present an approved, time-phased budget by work package, so it cannot serve as the sponsor's requested artifact.
- ✓
Cost baseline
Why this is correct
The cost baseline is the time-phased, approved budget for the project, broken down by work package and used to measure cost performance. It excludes management reserve but includes contingency reserve, which is exactly the unplanned-risk amount the sponsor asked to see. It is the reference against which earned value metrics such as CPI are calculated.
- ✗
Bill of materials (BOM)
Why it's wrong here
A BOM lists the physical components, quantities, and often part numbers needed for the hardware build. It supports procurement and installation planning but carries no time-phased funding, no reserve, and no approved budget total. The sponsor asked for budget distribution across work packages, which a BOM cannot express.
- ✗
Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)
Why it's wrong here
A RAM, often rendered as a RACI chart, maps project activities to the people or groups responsible, accountable, consulted, or informed. It clarifies roles and communication but contains no financial data whatsoever. It is unrelated to budget totals, work package allocations, or reserves, so it does not answer the sponsor's request.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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