Microsoft® Project 2007 Bible

Chapter 12. Recording Actuals

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Organizing the updating process options

• Updating tasks to reflect actual information

• Using actuals and costs

• Techniques and tips for updating

• Reviewing progress

Actuals represent what has, in fact, occurred during your project. In Microsoft Project, you can record actual information about the cost of a task and about the lime that was spent completing the task. By recording actual information, you accomplish the following things:

• You let Project automatically reschedule the remainder of your project.

• You provide management with a way to measure how well your project is going.

• You provide yourself with valuable information on your estimating skills — information that you can apply to the remainder of the current project and to your next project.

Organizing the Updating Process

Before you launch into the mechanics of updating a project, you should take a moment to examine the updating process. Updating a project can become complicated, particularly for large projects with many resources assigned to them. You need to establish efficient manual procedures for collecting information in a timely fashion, and then you need to determine the best ways to enter that information into Project.

Individuals working on tasks should answer the following questions regularly:

• Is the task on schedule?

• How much is done?

• Is a revised estimate available on the duration of the task?

• Is a revised estimate available on the work that is required to complete the task?

Tip

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