Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project
    How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project
    How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project
    Ebook228 pages1 hour

    How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project

    By Akram Najjar

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Microsoft Project hits a steep learning curve climb when the project manager starts tracking the actual values of schedules, costs and analyzing earned value. It has a wide range of options to be configured. These affect one another, sometimes in drastic ways, and hence your results. You need to setup pre-requisites before you can track and control execution.
    Secondly, although Earned Value Analysis (EVA) is available out of the box, its use requires elaborate procedures and reporting functions. Both schedule and cost reporting as well as EVA fall under the "tracking" activities a PM has to address during the complex task of project execution. (Planning a project is presented in a companion eBook by the author: Click Here).
    This eBook concentrates on tracking, only, i.e., all execution activities that commence after the approval of a project plan. Procedures presented in terms of focused workouts are provided to allow you as the PM to track schedules and costs. These are tracked at both the Task and the Assignment levels. Material and Cost assignments also tackled. Each of these procedures requires elaborate "dancing" through the options provided by Microsoft Project. These are discussed in detail. Related facilities such as progress lines, updating groups of tasks and baselines are also addressed.
    39 Workouts are presented in a step by step fashion, supported by screen captures. The download also contains a good number of useful templates and supporting documents.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGatekeeper Press
    Release dateApr 24, 2018
    ISBN9781642371598
    How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project

    Read more from Akram Najjar

    Related to How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project

    Related ebooks

    Accounting & Bookkeeping For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      21 Essential Tips For Managing Your Own Project

      Jan 30, 2020

      An obvious but overlooked point — when building you should try to use the best resources to realise your scheme. That includes choosing where to make your own contribution. If you are not the best person to manage other people, perhaps consider using

      6 min read

    • Article

      Code A Cataloguing Application In Python

      Nov 15, 2022

      Credit: www.djangoproject.com Matt Holder has been a fan of the open source methodology for over two decades and uses Linux and other tools where possible. More featurepacked source code for this project can be downloaded from https://github.com/mat

      8 min read

    • Article

      To-do Apps For Mac

      May 4, 2021

      To-do Apps For Mac
      5 min read

    • Article

      To–do Apps For Mac

      Apr 27, 2021

      To–do Apps For Mac
      5 min read

    • Article

      Discover Easy-to -build Desktop Apps

      Oct 22, 2019

      Electron is actually a browser packaged with node.js and a few APIs. Because it’s built on top of the Chromium browser, you have everything available from there to add to your application. GitHub developed it as part of the Atom editor; it was open-s

      7 min read

    • Article

      Code An Admin Back-end In Django

      Dec 13, 2022

      Credit: www.djangoproject.com OUR EXPERT Matt Holder has been a fan of the open source methodology for over two decades and uses Linux and other tools where possible. More featurepacked source code for this project can be downloaded from https://

      6 min read

    • Article

      Three Low-code Options

      Nov 12, 2020

      Counting Intel, Vodafone and VW among its customers, OutSystems helps businesses create cloudbased, on-premises and hybrid applications for mobile and web. Its development environment is predominantly drag-and-drop, with views for processes, data and

      3 min read

    • Article

      Stop Using Windows Tools

      Apr 26, 2023

      Stop Using Windows Tools
      16 min read

    • Article

      Embed An Excel File On Your Site

      Jul 20, 2022

      When you need to share data in an Excel spreadsheet, you could choose to extract it and then send it to members. An easier way is to embed it on your site for everyone to see. In our example, our local history club wants to share details of its yearl

      2 min read

    • Article

      Microcontrollers In Amateur Radio

      May 1, 2022

      When you hit the compile button for your compiler, there’s a whole bunch of stuff that takes place that isn’t obvious while the code compiles. In general terms, the C compiler: 1) invokes a preprocessor pass on the code;2) performs syntax/semantic ch

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project - Akram Najjar

      How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project

      by Akram Najjar

      How to Track Schedules, Costs and Earned Value with Microsoft Project

      by Akram Najjar

      POB 113-5623, Beirut, Lebanon

      Visit the site for this book at: www.marginalbooks.com

      Email the author at: info@marginalbooks.com

      All rights reserved

      Copyright © Akram Najjar 2016

      Library of Congress (US Copyright Office)

      Registration TXu 2-039-944

      No part of this book may be reproduced except for printing the workouts in order to solve them. Otherwise, the book may not be transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, in part or in full, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.

      E-Book ISBN: 9781642371598

      Columbus, Ohio

      Acknowledgements

      1) All line graphics in this book are by the author.

      2) All other graphics are imported workouts developed using Microsoft Office.

      3) Cover Image by the author

      Table of Contents

      1.0 Introduction

      2.0 Guidelines and Exclusions

      3.0 Downloading the Supporting Files

      4.0 A Global Example - An Apology

      5.0 The Generic Workflow for Cost Tracking and EVA in MSP

      6.0 What EVA Fields Does MSP Provide?

      Workout 1: How to Customize a Field with Formulas (TCSPI)

      7.0 What Options do You Need to Set for Cost Tracking and EVA?

      8.0 Where to Enter and View EVA Data in Microsoft Project

      9.0 Set the Baseline for Comparative Analysis

      Workout 2: Set Baseline for the EVA Project

      Workout 3: Set A Second Baseline for the EVA Project

      10.0 What to Report to Track a Project’s Progress?

      11.0 Track your Schedules: at the Task Level

      Workout 4: How to Use the Status and the Current Dates

      Workout 5: Interpret the Columns on the GANTT Tracking Table

      Workout 6: Other Ways to Enter Tracking Data onto the Task

      Workout 7: Enter the Actual Start Date for a Task

      Workout 8: Enter the Actual Finish Date for a Task

      Workout 9: Enter the Actual Duration for a Task

      Workout 10: Enter the Remaining Duration for a Task

      Workout 11: What Happens when In-Progress Tasks are Split?

      12.0 Track your Schedules: at the Assignment Level

      Workout 12: Enter the Actual Start for an Assignment

      Workout 13: Enter the Actual Finish for an Assignment

      13.0 Track your Costs: at the Task Level

      Workout 14: Enter % Complete for a Task

      Workout 15: Option: Updating Task Status Updates Resource Status

      Workout 16: Enter % Work Complete for a Task

      Workout 17: Enter Physical % Complete to Update BCWP

      Workout 18: Enter Actual Work (by hour) for a Task

      Workout 19: Enter Remaining Work for a Task

      14.0 Track your Progress using Various Facilities

      Workout 20: Use the Update Task Form

      Workout 21: Update the Project as Scheduled

      Workout 22: Reschedule the Whole Project or Parts of it

      Workout 23: Add Progress Lines onto Your Gantt Chart

      Workout 24: Add Multiple Progress Lines

      Workout 25: Option: Move Start of Remaining Parts before Status Date

      15.0 Report your Actual Costs: at both Levels

      Workout 26: Cases 1 and 2: Microsoft is to Calculate Actual Costs

      Workout 27: Case 3: Costs are Prorated and Spread to the Status Date

      Workout 28: Case 4: Entered Costs Spread According to Completed Work

      Workout 29: Case 5: Entered Costs are NOT Proportional to Worked Hours

      16.0 Track your Costs: at the Assignment Level

      Workout 30: Show that we Cannot Enter % Complete at Assignment Level

      Workout 31: Enter an Assignment’s % Work Complete

      Workout 32: Enter an Assignment’s Actual Work

      Workout 33: Enter Remaining Work for an Assignment

      Workout 34: Enter Planned Overtime to Reduce Over-Allocation

      Workout 35: Enter Actual Overtime Work for an Assignment

      Workout 36: Enter Unplanned Actual Overtime Work

      17.0 Track Material Consumption: at the Assignment Level

      Workout 37: Enter Actual Material Usage for an Assignment

      18.0 Track Other Costs: at the Assignment Level

      Workout 38: Enter Actual Cost against Cost Resource Assignments

      Workout 39: Can we Use Fixed Costs instead of Cost Resources?

      19.0 Meet the Author

      1.0 Introduction

      This eBook is the second of two book that aim at showing how to use Microsoft Project for planning and executing projects. The first eBook goes directly to the heart of the matter: how to use MSP to prepare a project plan. We will cover all required activities up to preparing a plan for approval.

      The companion and earlier eBook is called "How to Plan Projects with Microsoft Project". Review the details of the eBook and download a sample chapter from www.marginalbooks.com. In this site, you will also be pointed to various retailers that sell the eBook online. The methods needed to plan projects and set them up with Microsoft Project are assumed to be well known to you before starting with the tracking activities (execution).

      Preparing schedules and assigning resources is a pleasant exercise in Microsoft Project. Little knowledge of Project Management (and of Microsoft Project) is required. As soon as the Project Manager reaches the execution stage in his or her project, difficulties start arising. Microsoft Project offers so many facilities that it is not simple to track control schedules and track costs. More than just the plethora of facilities, Microsoft Project comes with a fair number of options that are sometimes multileveled: set an option and you get other options to set. These are like butterflies in chaos theory: a flutter of the wing of one of them can cause major changes in the results of the project.

      Add to the above the method of Earned Value Analysis (EVA), which goes hand in hand with the monitoring and forecasting of project schedules and costs and we have an unwieldy situation.

      Earned Value Analysis (EVA) is a method that was initially developed in the Construction Industry. In the past 5 years or so, it has gained ascendance in all types of projects. EVA is a very important computational tool that allows the Project Manager to monitor two major questions:

      Are we behind or ahead of schedule?

      Are we above or below budget?

      These questions can be asked about tasks, phases, groups of tasks, etc.

      A working knowledge of Earned Value Analysis is needed. This eBook is also supported by another book by the author: "Practical Earned Value Analysis: 25 Indicators from 5 Measures". Review the details of the eBook and download a sample chapter from: www.marginalbooks.com.

      On the other hand and much related to EVA, tracking and controlling costs is one of the major responsibilities (and worries) of a Project Manager. The two disciplines cross paths. Microsoft Project is well suited to deal with both.

      However, the location of the facilities needed for handling EVA and cost control is very wide within Microsoft Project. It is also loaded with several options that have a crucial effect on the results of the analysis.

      This has prompted the author to prepare this eBook which concentrates on these two activities: how to use Microsoft Project to track and control costs and extract from such information the various indicators of Earned Value Analysis.

      2.0 Guidelines and Exclusions

      Here are some assumptions, pointers and exclusions to consider in this eBook:

      1) Most of our examples assume that the tasks are not effort driven. This allows us to work with mixed labor. Effort driven tasks work with the same type of resource so that the addition or reduction of resources will affect the resulting work accordingly.

      2) The text uses Microsoft Project 2013. There is not much difference between 2010 and 2013. Nor with 2016. As for 2007, it does not have the standard Office ribbon that Office 2007 and later products have. However, apart from a few very beneficial improvements, most of what will be presented is available in all versions after 2007. We will note these changes as we go along. However, a quick search on the web will highlight them all.

      3) You might observe minor differences in totals. This is due to the difference between what you view (figures formatted in 2 digits) and how Microsoft actually stores these figures: in much larger precision.

      4) Since Microsoft Project uses the classical acronyms for EVA (BCWS, BCWP and ACWP), we will stick to those although our preference goes to the PMI’s acronyms (PV, EV and AC).

      5) This eBook will not address any issues related to collaboration or enterprise project management. It will concentrate on the tracking of costs and the use of EVA indicators.

      6) The Notation Used in this eBook

      In the various examples and workouts, we shall follow this notation:

      a) File names to be used in a specific workout will be shown in bold and without extensions since all of them are templates.

      b) All menus and sub-menus names will be indicated in upper case. For example, Select the menu item FILE / OPTIONS.

      c) All buttons will be denoted in the upper case mode too. For example, Click on the EDIT button.

      In most cases, we will show images of the menus, sub-menus, dialog boxes and views.

      3.0 Downloading the Supporting Files

      This eBook is supported by a set of files included in the zipped file that is available for download from www.marginalbooks.com. To download the zipped file, Click Here. Check the last sentence in this book for the code to open the zipped file. On Unzipping the file, the files will go into the following 2 folders:

      01. Templates

      02. Supporting Documents

      1) Templates: some templates are included to save entry time in most of the workouts.

      The naming of most Templates follows this convention: T stands for the number of tasks in the project and R for the number of resources. A single digit prefixes each of these. The file name is then followed by a text indicating whether the resources have been assigned or not.

      xTyR: the generic form indicting x tasks and y resources

      1T3R Not Assigned: a project with 1 task and 3 unassigned resources

      3T2R Assigned: a project with 3 tasks and 2 assigned resources

      One of the templates in the Templates Folder is called Standardized EVA Components. It contains a few beneficial EVA components that have been customized since they are included in MSP out of the box. The document does not contain any project data. It simply provides the following preset components:

      Customized EVA fields

      A VBA module with useful macros

      Various EVA Tables

      Each of these can be moved using the Organizer to your global.mpt or any specific project you are working on.

      1) Supporting Documents: these include lists, some training documents from Microsoft, etc.

      referred to in the text are included in this folder. It also contains original Microsoft Visio and Mindjet MindManager documents used in the eBook.

      4.0 A Global Example - An Apology

      In most of the workshops I give on Project Management, Data Analysis and other subjects, invariably, someone would ask: Is there a single global case that can group all what we’ve learnt in this workshop in one place?

      My apologies go to such persons. I would very much like to present a single project in MSP that can address all that we discuss in this eBook. However, two reasons stand in the way:

      a) Different techniques apply to different types of projects and it would be hard to find them in one case.

      b) Trying different combinations of a specific facility might not apply in a single project.

      c) Some of the facilities we will

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1