If work on an activity is in progress or complete, can I edit the previously defined manual assignment values?
For Budgeted or Planned units, you can edit manual values for an assignment at any time (before or after the data date), even if the activity associated with the assignment is in progress or has an Actual Finish date.
For Remaining (Early) Units, you can edit manual values for an assignment's future period buckets only (buckets after the data date); you cannot edit an assignment's past period buckets (buckets before the data date) when an activity is in progress, even if you manually entered the values before work began on the activity. Once an activity has an Actual Finish date, you can not edit remaining unit values.
Tip
- When work on an activity is not proceeding according to plan, you can re-estimate the remaining work on the assignment and update the assignment's remaining without changing the original plan, enabling you to compare the original baseline plan to when the work actually occurred. If the project schedule has deviated significantly from the original plan and several activities require re-estimation, you might choose to update the budgeted or planned units for those assignments and re-baseline the project.
Can I automatically apply actuals for assignments with manual future period values?
Yes. The Auto Compute Actuals option must be selected on the activity or the resource assigned to the activity for the module to consider manual future period values when applying actuals.
To set Auto Compute Actuals at the activity level, display the Auto Compute Actuals column in the Activity Table (Activities window), then mark the checkbox for the appropriate activities.
You can set Auto Compute Actuals per resource on the Details tab of Resource Details. Choose Enterprise, Resources, then display resource details.
How are actuals applied when I manually update progress for assignments with manual future period values?
Actuals are applied to manually-planned assignments according to the following rules, depending on the way you manually update activity progress:
If you use Progress Spotlight to update activity progress, actuals are applied using the specified manual planned or budgeted unit distribution; the manual remaining unit distribution is not considered, even if no manual planned or budgeted unit data exists for an assignment. When the planned or budgeted and remaining unit values are different for an assignment, the planned or budgeted unit values overwrite the existing remaining unit values when you apply actuals.
If you update activity progress by modifying Duration % Complete or Remaining Duration on the activity, the activity's actual units are updated using the manual remaining unit distribution when you apply actuals, as long as the project option 'Recalculate Actual Units and Cost when duration percent complete changes' (Project Details, Calculations tab) is marked.
If you update activity progress by modifying the Remaining Units or Remaining Early Finish on the assignment, the activity's actual units are updated using the manual planned or budgeted unit distribution when you apply actuals, as long as the project option 'Recalculate Actual Units and Cost when duration percent complete changes' (Project Details, Calculations tab) is marked.
If you update activity progress by modifying the Actual Units on the activity or assignment, manual future period planned or budgeted and remaining unit values are not updated when you apply actuals.
How does removing progress from an activity affect manual future period values?
When you remove progress from an activity that has manual future period values on its associated assignment, the module adheres to the setting for removing progress from activities on the Project Details, Calculations tab.
If you choose to 'Reset Planned or Original Duration and Units to Remaining,' the assignment's manual future period planned or budgeted unit values are respread to match the manual remaining unit values.
If you choose to 'Reset Remaining Duration and Units to Planned or Original,' the assignment's manual future period remaining unit values are respread to match the manual planned or budgeted unit values.
Does the module use manual future period values when calculating earned value?
Yes.
Can I update a baseline with revised manual future period values?
Yes.