PLAN VS ACTUAL PERCENT COMPLETE

Steps Involved
To build and calculate the formulas, I’ll follow five steps.

Step – 1: Set the Baseline

As I’ve said before, without setting the baseline, we can’t do the calculation. To the
set the baseline, go to the Project tab > Schedule group > Set Baseline. Then, execute
the “Set Baseline…” command, as shown below.

Step – 2: Set the Status Date

Next, we are going to set the status date, for which you have to go to the Project tab
> Status group, and use the “Status Date:” command.

Note that as one works with the project and its progress, the status date can be
updated accordingly.
You may want to see the status date in the Gantt chart view, which can be done by
going to the Format tab > Format group > Gridlines, and executing the “Gridlines…”
command.

For the sake of this example, I’ve set the status to show with a normal line and red
color coding. The status date will be visible now in the Gantt Chart View along with
the baseline. This is shown below.

Step – 3: Create the Needed Custom Fields

For the purpose of our calculation, we are going to have three number custom
fields and one text custom field:
▪ Number1: This will hold the difference between the status date and
baseline start.
▪ Number2: This will hold the baseline duration of the task concerned.
▪ Number3: This will hold the formula comparing the position of the status
date with respect to the baseline values.
▪ Text1: This will convert the “Number3” into percentage representation.
To use these custom fields, go to the Format tab > Columns group, and execute the
“Custom Fields” command.
As highlighted above, we will be using three number custom fields (and a text
custom field). Ensure that the formula is applied and the calculation for task and
group summary rows use the formula embedded into the appropriate custom field.

Step – 4: Determine Planned % Complete

For each of the three number fields, we will be using these formulas.
Number1: ProjDateDiff([Baseline Start],[Status Date])/480
The Number1 field will hold the value of difference between Baseline Start and
Status Date. If the Status Date is ahead of the Baseline Start, then it will be positive,
whereas if behind the Baseline Start, it will be negative.
Number2: [Baseline Duration]/480
This will hold the Baseline Duration of the task.
Number3:
IIf([Number1]<=0,0,
IIf([Number1]>=[Number2],100,
IIf(([Number1]<[Number2]) AND ([Number2]>0),
[Number1]/[Number2]*100,0)))
This custom field holds the main algorithm and uses the IIf() function of MS Project.
The algorithm is built on explanations given in the first video.

Step – 5: Format Planned % Complete

Finally, we will convert the Number3 custom field into a Text one. I’ve used the below
formula for the Text1 custom field:
Text1: cStr([Number3] & “%”)
We need to concatenate the string value of Number 3 with “%.” The “Text1” custom
field also has to be renamed as “Planned % Complete”.
After you have populated the custom fields with the above formulas, you’ll see the
below.

Let’s interpret the above figure:

▪ The status date is set as Sept 12, 2022.
▪ For Phase – 1:
▪ All tasks (work packages) are planned to be completed by the
status date. Hence, these are shown to be 100% complete.
▪ The cumulative planned % complete for Phase – 1 is at 100%.
▪ For Phase – 2:
▪ “Work Package A2” and “Work Package B2” are planned to be
completed fully. Hence, these are shown as 100%.
▪ The status date is 1 day into “Work Package C3,” because it
starts on Monday, Sept 12, 2022. Hence, the planned %
complete for this task will be 1/5 = 0.2 or 20%.
▪ The cumulative planned % complete for Phase – 2 is at 55%.
▪ The cumulative planned % complete for the entire project is 77.5%.

Planned Vs. Actual Percent Complete

Now that we’ve walked through how to calculate and use the Planned % Complete,
let’s look at it alongside the Actual % Complete column. As noted earlier, “%
Complete” in MS Project informs on the actual percentage completed for a task. To
show both, I’ve added one more column into the tabular side of the Gantt Chart, as
depicted below:
I’ve renamed the title field for “% Complete” by going to the Format tab > Columns
group > Custom Settings, and executing the “Field Settings” command.

As we track the project’s progress, both planned and actual percent complete fields
will populate, respectively, as shown.

Let’s interpret the above figure:

▪ The status date is again on Sept 12, 2022, when we started tracking.
▪ For Phase – 1:
▪ As on the status date, Work Package A1 and B1, as well the
Milestone “Phase -1 End,” are actually complete, and, hence, are
all showing to be at 100% completion.
▪ Work Package C1 started on time, but took 2 more days to
complete.
▪ Work Package D1 has seen 2-days’ worth of work, but has 4-
days remaining. While the actual % complete is 2/6 or 33%, the
planned percent complete is 100%, as we have seen earlier.
▪ The cumulative actual % complete for Phase – 1 is 83%.
▪ For Phase – 2:
 ▪ Work Packages A2 and B2 are at 75% and 50% actually
completed. Compared to the status date, the planned percent
complete is 100%.
▪ Work Package C2 has seen 1-day’s work and still has 6-days of
work remaining. Hence, the actual % complete is 1/7 or 14%,
whereas the planned % complete is 20%, as we have seen
earlier.
▪ The cumulative actual % complete for Phase – 2 is at 33%.
▪ The cumulative actual % complete for the entire project is at 58%. On the
other hand, as seen earlier, the cumulative planned % complete is 77.5%.

Creating Histogram – Planned Vs. Actual % Complete

So, what do we do with the data? MS Project comes with a large set of built-in
reports, as well as allows you to create your own customized reports. Let’s create
a histogram to show the Planned vs. Actual % Complete data to a customer or
stakeholder.
Create a custom Histogram Report by going to the Report tab > New Report >
Chart, as shown below.

▪
▪ Select the custom field related to Planned % Complete and the already
available field of (Actual) % Complete in the “Field List.” The histogram report
will show both these fields in its report.
▪
▪ With a little bit of further customization, labelling, axis value population, and
formatting, the histogram report will come out as shown below.