setting up fixed costs

[ProjectUser]

I could use some best practice advice for the following scenario (using
Project 2003):

I need to track project costs and do Earned Value. Part of the challenge is
that we don’t track resources and probably won’t at this stage. So, I’ve
added a Cost WBS with a cost milestone task. I thought I could enter the
budgeted amount under “fixed cost†for each of the cost milestone tasks
(we’re doing multiple construction sites as one complete project.) Also,
this schedule will be inserted into another schedule.

Some of the unexpectant results I’m seeing:

• Complete project costs (all milestone task fixed costs) don’t roll to the
top of the schedule; particularly, the master schedule
• When adding actuals, the actuals get added, not subtracted, to the total
cost…?

There are other unexpectant results I’m seeing that would lengthen this.

The bottom line: how do I best set this schedule so that I enter budgeted
amounts, then track actuals, and have all the fields needed to do Earned
Value Analysis (of course, once I baseline this schedule)?

Thanks!

 

[davegb]

I could use some best practice advice for the following scenario (using
Project 2003):

I need to track project costs and do Earned Value. Part of the challengeis
that we don't track resources and probably won't at this stage. So, I've
added a Cost WBS with a cost milestone task. I thought I could enter the
budgeted amount under "fixed cost" for each of the cost milestone tasks
(we're doing multiple construction sites as one complete project.) Also,
this schedule will be inserted into another schedule.

Some of the unexpectant results I'm seeing:

· Complete project costs (all milestone task fixed costs) don't roll to the
top of the schedule; particularly, the master schedule
· When adding actuals, the actuals get added, not subtracted, to the total
cost...?

There are other unexpectant results I'm seeing that would lengthen this.

The bottom line: how do I best set this schedule so that I enter budgeted
amounts, then track actuals, and have all the fields needed to do Earned
Value Analysis (of course, once I baseline this schedule)?

Thanks!

Since no one else has responded in 5 days, I'll take a crack at
explaining this. I don't know how, and apparently no one else does, to
track EV without resources. EV is based on work planned and work
accomplished. Without resources, you have neither. By applying fixed
costs, you've attempted a workaround, which isn't working. I generally
associate fixed costs with capital costs, at least on construction
projects. EV does not apply to capital costs because they have no
direct relationship to what's been accomplished. I can spend millions
on capital and not accomplish a single thing (just look at some DOD
projects!) It's like saying I have a tape measure and I want to
measure how many board feet I have, but I don't have any wood! You
can't measure what you don't have.

You don't necessarily have to have actual hourly costs to do EV, it
can be done with an assumption of say, $1/hr for your resources,
although you lose any real meaning to your CV (or CPI), you will have
a useful SV (and SPI). But you need hours to make either happen.

Hope this helps in your world.