Managing a drilling budget shouldn’t feel like walking a tightrope. Costs escalate fast, and reconciling expenses can quickly turn into a time-consuming nightmare.

Whether you’re leading a large mining operation or running a lean exploration program, efficient cost reconciliation is critical. Not just for hitting financial targets, but for keeping your team (and yourself) sane.

Here’s how modern drilling software can transform chaotic reconciliations into a streamlined, stress-free process.

The Cost Reconciliation Struggle: Sound Familiar?

You sit down to reconcile costs, and chaos erupts:

Paperwork overload: Invoices for contractor hours, consumables, and services pile up, each requiring tedious comparisons against budgets and drill logs.
Spreadsheet nightmares: One incorrect formula or manual data entry error throws everything off.
Fragmented information: Geos, contractors, and finance teams work from outdated versions of spreadsheets.
Endless email chains: “Is this the latest version?” “Who updated the rates?” Your inbox is a tangled mess.
Lost time: By the time you reconcile the data, weeks have passed - too late for proactive cost-saving measures.

The High Cost of Inefficient Reconciliation

When cost management gets messy, the consequences hit hard:

Runaway budgets: Delayed insights mean you don’t catch inefficiencies like an underperforming rig until it’s too late.
Missed milestones: When outdated data shows 65% of the budget spent but only 30% of the project completed, it’s a problem.
Inaccurate reporting: A small manual error - like a misread “6” turning into a “9”- creates disputes, overspending, and reputational risks.
Burnout: Instead of focusing on geology and strategy, you’re stuck in spreadsheets, drowning in numbers and email threads.

What If Cost Reconciliation Was Effortless?

Imagine this:

Drilling data automatically captures and categorises itself.
Your team collaborates in one live, centralised system. No silos, no version control issues.
Real-time cost tracking helps you course-correct instantly, avoiding surprise overruns.

With the right software, this isn’t wishful thinking. It’s your new normal.

How Modern Drilling Software Fixes Cost Reconciliation

Here’s how modern drilling platforms like CorePlan transform reconciliation:

1. Automated Plod Imports

Say goodbye to deciphering messy logs or chasing missing data. Drilling software automates plod imports, capturing every metre drilled with precision, whether handwritten or digital.

2. Real-Time Cost Tracking

Stop waiting for end-of-week updates. With live dashboards, you see expenses as they happen. Catch overspending early, avoid disputes, and keep your budget on track.

3. Unified Communication

No more email chains or out-of-sync spreadsheets. Contractors, geos, and finance teams work from the same source of truth, ensuring alignment and clarity.

4. Accurate, Actionable Data

Automation eliminates manual errors, giving you clean, reliable data. Clear insights help you fine-tune operations and make confident decisions.

Save Time. Save Money. Save Your Sanity.

With purpose-built drilling software, cost reconciliation is no longer a headache. The benefits speak for themselves:

Fewer errors and disputes.
More time for high-value tasks.
Real-time insights for smarter, faster decisions.

Ready to Take Control?

Cost reconciliation doesn’t have to drain your time and energy. CorePlan helps streamline operations, optimise budgets, and refocus on exploration success.

Explore more insights on our blog or cut to the chase and book a free demo today. Your budget (and your team) will thank you.

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How to Save Hours (and Sanity) on Drilling Cost Reconciliation

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