Creating a planned % column

[leeheps]

Hi there, I am new to this forum and having had a browse through, it seems that there are many experts here with great knowledge and experience and am really hoping someone can help me here.
I am trying to create a planned % complete column in project 2010 and have got as far as adding this custom column but the formula I am using isn't working - it displays the values i enter in % complete column and what I am trying to do is be able to compare % complete with planned % complete.
The formula I am using is ([Actual Duration]/[Baseline Duration])*100


Many thanks in advance, I would be most grateful to know more about this.
Lee

[JulieS]

What kind of field have you used for the custom formula? What error are you seeing? Are you using autoscheduled or manually scheduled tasks?

I used your formula in a number field and it showed the correct value. Tested in Project 2010 with SP-2 and the latest cumulative update installed.

[leeheps]

Hi julie

Many thanks for the advice - it is working after all.....can't think what I was dong wrong, but was using number 1 column.
Thanks for your response and help.
Kind regards
Lee

[JulieS]

Great. Glad to know it's working well now and thanks for the feedback.

[PeteS]

Hi there,

I've been looking at some of the threads in the MS project forums and just wanted to make a comment in relation to your forumula that you are using to calculate planned % complete.

I tried replicated the formula you used and in general it works however the following should be noted:

If you increase the duration of a task and the "actual duration" exceed the baseline duration the resultant will be in excess of 100%. To fix this I would add an "IIf" statement.

Here is an example I tried that seemed to work:

IIf((([Actual Duration]/[Baseline Duration])*100)>100,100,([Actual Duration]/[Baseline Duration])*100)

Using this formula means the calculated field will never exceed 100%.

My other issue is that although this formula will work if the task starts at the same time as the baseline start date it does not reflect the planned % complete for tasks that are delayed. If I delay the start of a task the planned % complete should start to increase however the formula field will only populate once you start entering actual % complete.

An alternative to this is to save a separate copy of the schedule file once you have baselined it. At the end of each month, change the project status date to the last day of the month. Once you have done this highlight and show all sub tasks then simply click on the "Mark on track" button.

This will update the % complete for all tasks up to the status date. Don't worry about the tasks in the future, as their commencement date is yet to occur no percent complete will be applied.

NOTE: only do this for the baseline copy of the schedule and do not change any fields whatsoever as this will alter the planned % complete!

Then go into the tracking/actual version of the schedule and update the % completes and dates to reflect reality.

You then have an overall planned vs actual % complete for your project.

Cheers,

Pete