Project Targeting View

Column

Description

Effective Date

This is not a column in the report but a date which you can enter. It defines the date up to which costs are taken from timesheets and invoices and after which costs are calculated from resource plans or forecasted task dates.

Columns initially visible by default:

Baseline Hours

Total baseline hours for non speculative tasks

If the baseline has not been used, the current target hours are used instead.

Actual Hours

Actual costs from timesheets up to the Effective Date shown at the top.

Hours to Complete

All costs required to complete the project. These are calculated for each task and accumulated for the project overall. The cost to complete comes from:

▪Resource plans for dates ahead of the effective date

▪Remaining targets for those tasks which are not resource planned

▪Cost to complete against tasks marked as speculative are not included in this figure.

When resource planning is in use, the Hours to Complete field shows the hours from future resource plans from the effective date at the top. If staff haven’t recorded actual hours in accordance with the plan, then the hours to complete may not provide the figure you are looking for, and you may be better off using the Target Hours Remaining field.

Total Hours

Cost to Date + Cost to Complete

% Complete

Actual Hours / (Actual Hours + Hours to Complete)

Ie this is actually the % spent, not the project leaders assessment of % complete

Variance

Baseline Hours – Total Hours

Columns initially hidden but available using the Customise Columns facility

Target Hours

The target hours allocated to the task.

Target Hours Remain

A simple arithmetic calculation of Target Hours less Actual Hours.

This may be more use to you than the Hours to Complete figure as it is simply the original target hours set for the task less actual hours booked.

Planned Date

The last date the project resource plan was updated.

This column is only relevant for organisations using the resource planner and is hidden by default.

Last Month Actuals

The number of hours resourced within the time period between the Last Plan Date and the Effective Date at the top

Last Month Resources

The number of hours booked to timesheets within the time period between the Last Plan Date and the Effective Date at the top

Last Month Difference

The difference between the above two figures; Actual and Resourced. This shows the comparison between the resources planned and actually booked through timesheets cince the last plan date.

If this is a large figure it indicates the resource plan is out of date and should be re-visited.

Last Task

The last incomplete task

This is task with the latest target finish date which is not complete. If all historic tasks are complete, then the next task due to finish is shown. The date is measured from the effective date at the top of the grid.

Finish Date

The target finish date for the above task

Days Remaining

The number of days remaining from the effective date to the last task finish date.

A negative number indicates the task is late in finishing.

A positive number indicates the remaining time to finish the task.