Updating Activities Manually

You can also manually update future period unit values for assignments to activities. For more information, refer to “Managing Resource Assignments” on page 323.

In addition to updating activities automatically or using timesheets, you can manually update data for each activity. Record actual dates, actual resource use, and costs incurred up to the data date or “time now.” There are different activity types, percent complete types, and duration types to accommodate your scheduling requirements. You should set these variables at the start of the project when you establish your update procedures.

For more information on defining activity and duration types, see “Working with Activities” on page 201.

Set percent complete type An activity’s percent complete can be calculated according to activity duration, activity units, or a physical percent complete that you enter for each activity. Choose Project, Activities, and display the Activity Details General tab or add a column for Percent Complete Type in the Activity Table.

To update any other activity data, such as remaining duration or actual units, you must first enter an actual start date for the activity.

Duration % Cmp = [(Original Duration – Rem Duration) / Original Duration] x 100

nSelect Units when progress is best reported based on the work effort that has been accomplished and how much effort remains. Enter the actual and remaining units.

Units % Cmp = [Actual Units / At Completion Units] x 100

Update actual dates Once an activity is underway, update its start and finish dates and other status information. Choose Project, Activities and display the Activity Details Status tab. If the activity has actually started, mark the Started checkbox, then specify the actual start date in the Started field. If the activity is complete, mark the Finished checkbox, then specify the actual finish date in the Finished field.

Update activities with Duration percent complete type In the Activities window, select the activity to update and display the Activity Details Status tab. In the Remaining field, type the remaining number of workperiods needed to complete the selected activity. When you schedule or apply actuals, the actual duration is calculated as the total working time from the actual start date to the current data date (for in-progress activities) or to the actual finish date (for completed activities), using the activity’s calendar.

If resources are assigned to the activity, each resource’s remaining units are calculated as the activity’s remaining duration multiplied by its remaining units per time.

Actual Regular Units for a resource indicate the actual amounts without considering overtime units. Actual Units include Actual Regular Units plus Actual Overtime Units.

Update activities with Units percent complete type If you are updating activities with the Units percent complete type, most likely your focus is on resource planning and scheduling. (You may also have specified the activity type as Resource Dependent and the Duration type as Fixed Units/Time.) You should update the labor units (and/or nonlabor units) for the activity, rather than the duration. If multiple resources are assigned to an activity, you should update each resource individually in the Resources tab. In the Activities window, select the activity to update and display the Activity Details Resources tab.

When you update activities manually, you should turn off Auto Compute Actuals settings; otherwise, your changes are overwritten when you apply actuals or calculate the schedule.