BCWS, BCWP & ACWP give all or nothing

[Vic]

Hi,

The BCWS and BCWP, and ACWP fields are all giving me the entire Baseline
amount or zero depending on the Status Date and the Actual Hours Entered.

I have the EV Method set to % Complete (I tried Physical % Complete but lost
all SPI & CPI numbers). So I'm back to % Complete.

So here's the example - Task A has 80 hours baselined at $140/hr for the
resource. Baseline Cost correctly shows $11,200 for the task. The task
starts on 2/11/2010 and runs through 3/11/2010 due to a 2 week vacation.
When I change the Current Date and Status Date to today. The BCWS is giving
me the full $11,200. I'm thinking it should be about $4,480 since the entire
task/cost isn't scheduled to be done until March. When I enter the 16 hours
spent on the task (via the Resource View and Actual Work) the BCWP & ACWP
both go directly to $11,200. Again I'm thinking they should read in the
$4,480 range.

Am I missing a setting somewhere? Your help is much appreciated

 

[Jim Aksel]

Yes, this is confusing. You may want to look at the task in the Tracking
Gantt view or the Task Usage View (Turn on the baseline information so you
can see it). For some reason, it has all the cost loaded prior to the status
date. You can see that on the Task Usage View.

It still does this even if you back out the %Complete value to 0% and then
enter your actuals? How is the forecast (start/finish) spread compared to
baseline start/baseline finish? If Baseline Finish is to the left of the
status date, that wouldbe a problem.
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Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[Vic]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your response. First to answer your one question, yes it still
does it if I zero out the % Complete - the BCWS remains $11,200 and the BCWP
& ACWP go back to zero.

I did what you said in the Task Usage View and the Baseline numbers look
like they should - spread through the duration of the task to 3/11/2010.
They're not front loaded. I even added the ACWP field in that view and it
just put the entire amount ($11,200) right in the column where the first
hours are entered.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Jim Aksel]

Not off the top of my head. I happen to be in Seattle with Microsoft at the
second. Three other of our fellow MVPs are also here. If you care to donate
the file to jeaksel at yahoo dot com we might be able to take a look tonight.


In the meantime, I believe there are others monitoring this group who may
have some other thoughts.

To me, the only "honest" way to pile up 100% of the BCWS to the left of the
status date is if the entire baseline duration of the task is to the left of
the status date.
There's something we're overlooking here... just need to find it.

Let's not let the software win.


--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[Vic]

Ha ha - I agree. O.K. I just sent an e-mail to that address with the project
plan attached. As the e-mail says Tasks 26 & 27 show the example. But I
think you can tweak any task and you'll get the same result. Thanks for your
help.

 

[Jim Aksel]

Go to the Resource Sheet. The resource you have assigned to the task has an
"Accrue At" setting of "Start". Change that to "Prorated".

Remove progress from the task. Rebaseline the task, and then take your
progress again. All is well.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[Vic]

Perfect!!! Thanks!!!

--
Vic

Go to the Resource Sheet. The resource you have assigned to the task has an
"Accrue At" setting of "Start". Change that to "Prorated".

Remove progress from the task. Rebaseline the task, and then take your
progress again. All is well.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com