Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Updating Schedule Status in Project

Status information based on what actually happened is usually referred to as project actuals. Actuals are made up of data like actual duration, actual start, actual work, and percent complete. (The box on Baseline, Scheduled, and Actual Values explains the difference between baseline, scheduled, and actual values in Project.) Keep in mind that, to get a complete picture of your project’s status, you also need estimates about the remaining duration or work.

In this section, you’ll learn how to enter status information into your Project file, including the best methods for each situation. This section covers commonly used methods for tracking status in Project. Some techniques update things from the task’s point of view (Updating Tasks That Run on Schedule), and other techniques update things from the resource assignment’s point of view (Updating the Project Using Resource-Assignment Status). You’ll also learn how to quickly “catch up” to your project if it’s gotten stalled for some reason. Finally, you’ll learn about the best ways to update cost information in your project.

Setting the Status Date

Before you begin entering updates in Project, it’s a good idea to set the status date, that is, the date through which you’ve collected status information. Setting the status date comes in handy if you receive status information from team members on one day, such as the last Friday of the reporting period, but update your schedule on a different day, like ...