FIXED Cost

The Fixed Cost task field shows any nonresource task expense

Example    For the "Write proposal" task, there is a fixed cost of $30 for duplication of the finished
proposal

Variance

The Cost Variance assignment fields show the difference between the baseline cost and total cost for a
task, resource, or assignment. The total cost is the current estimate of costs based on actual costs and
remaining costs.

Example    The baseline cost for a task is $500 because you had originally estimated that it
would take your $50 per hour resource 10 hours to complete. If your resource only takes 5 hours
to complete the task, the baseline cost is $500 and the cost is updated to $250. Therefore, the cost
variance shows -$250, indicating that you're under budget on the task by $250.

Remarks    If the cost variance is negative, the cost for the task is currently under the budgeted,
or baseline, amount. If the cost variance is positive, the cost for the task is currently over budget.
When the task is complete, this field shows the difference between baseline costs and actual
costs.

ACTUAL Cost

The Actual Cost fields show costs incurred for work already performed by resources on their
tasks, along with any other recorded costs associated with the task. The timephased versions of
these fields show values distributed over time.

How Calculated    Until actual work is reported on a task, the Actual Cost field contains 0.00.
You can choose to calculate all the actual costs as actual work is reported by each resource
assigned to the task. This is the cost of actual work plus any fixed costs for the task to date. How
and when actual costs are calculated depend on the assigned Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, Per
Use Cost, and Cost accrual settings in the Resource Information dialog box.

Example    You're tracking costs on a task that has a 10-hour duration. The one resource
assigned costs $20 per hour, and the resource has reported that the task is 50 percent complete.
Microsoft Project calculates that the actual cost so far is $100. When the task is 100 percent
complete, the actual cost will be calculated as $200.

Remarks    You can specify whether you want to enter actual costs or automatically calculate
them. You do this in the Project Options dialog box. By default, the option to automatically
calculate costs is selected. If you choose this option, any actual costs you've already entered will
be cleared. If you choose to enter actual costs, Project will not calculate any actual cost values.
However, it will continue to calculate remaining costs from the remaining work values. If you
choose to have Project calculate actual costs, you cannot enter any actual costs until the task is
100 percent complete.

You can choose to enter actual costs or have Project calculate them for you. You can also enter
actual costs for assignments and tasks on a timephased basis. In addition, you can set whether
fixed costs are accrued at the start or end of the task or are prorated.

REMAINING Cost

The Remaining Cost fields show the remaining scheduled expense that will be incurred in
completing the remaining scheduled work.

How Calculated    When you first create a task, the Remaining Cost field is the same as the Cost
field. Once the assigned resources begin work on the task and report actual work, Microsoft
Office Project calculates the remaining cost as follows:

Remaining Cost = (Remaining Work * Standard Rate) + Remaining Overtime Cost

Example    You're tracking costs for a resource with a rate of $20 per hour. The resource is
assigned to many different tasks throughout the duration of the project, which together will take
100 hours. Before the resource has begun reporting actual work, the remaining cost for all tasks
assigned to the resource is $2,000. Then the resource reports 3 hours of work on one task and
7 hours of work on another task for 10 hours of actual work, or $200 of actual cost. The
remaining cost changes from $2,000 to $1,800.
This report Shows :
How much work, how many tasks are completed, and what’s left to be done. To
Burndown
learn more about this report, see Create a burndown report.
The current cost status of your project and its top-level tasks, showing planned
Cost costs, remaining costs, actual costs, cumulative costs, baseline costs, and
Overview percentage of completion to help you determine if your project will stay within
budget.
Project How much of your project is complete, upcoming milestones, and tasks that are
Overview past due (late tasks).
Upcoming The work that has been done in the current week, the status of any remaining tasks
tasks that were due, and what tasks are starting in the next week.
Work A work burndown for your project and the work stats for all top-level tasks so
Overview you’ll know the percentage of completion and what’s left to be done.

This report : Shows :

The costs and cumulative costs per quarter for all top-level tasks. Use the
Cash Flow
Field List to show other costs or different time periods.
The cost variance for all top-level tasks and work resources, and indicates
Cost Overruns
where actual costs exceed the baseline costs.
Earned Value Earned value, variance, and performance indices over time, comparing costs
Report and schedules to a baseline to determine if your project is on track.
Resource Cost The cost status of work resources (people and material), showing cost details
Overview in a table and cost distribution data in a chart.
Task Cost The cost status of top-level tasks, showing cost details in a table and cost
Overview distribution data in a chart.

This report : Shows

All tightly scheduled tasks that are listed as critical on your project’s critical path,
Critical Tasks
meaning that any delay in such tasks will cause the schedule to slip.
All tasks that started or finished later than their scheduled start and finish dates
Late Tasks
and that aren’t progressing as planned.
Milestone All tasks in your project that have milestones, showing which of them are late,
Report due, or completed.
Slipping All tasks in your project that are taking longer to complete than expected and have
Tasks a finish date that’s later than their baseline finish date.

Slipping Tasks. The Slipping Tasks report shows tasks that have started, but are due to finish
after their baseline finish dates (so it works only when you’ve set a baseline). Dig deeper into
each task to find out what the problems are and to correct them. The report shows current and
baseline start and finish dates, and the corresponding variances.