Working with the Project Schedule
The project schedule shown on the Schedule subtab of each project record provides the capacity for scheduling and managing project tasks.
The project schedule is a workspace that helps you examine the overall scope, progress and cost for a project. It also organizes the tasks as parts of the project as a whole and defines how they should work together.
To view a project schedule:
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Go to Lists > Relationships > Projects and click View next to the project.
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On the project record, click the Schedule subtab.
The schedule shows the existing tasks for the project, and for each task, the start date, end date, estimated work and cost are shown.
The Schedule subtab displays project tasks in the order in which they would be listed on a project plan or work breakdown structure. You cannot sort or reorder the project tasks displayed on the Schedule subtab.
In the View field, you can select various views of the planned tasks for the project, including Planning, Tracking, or Variance views:
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Planning – The planning view looks at relationships between tasks, start and end dates, and the estimated level of effort and cost. It is most useful when you are beginning to create a project schedule. The calculated end date passes from the parent task to the child task. For example, a parent task has a calculated end date assigned to 5/6/2024 according to the calculated hours of its child tasks. You can set the child tasks to finish no later than 29/12/2023 and the value will change only for the task and its child tasks, not for the parent task.
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Tracking – The tracking view looks at current task progress and the current estimated task dates versus the baseline dates. The tracking view is best for an active project that has tasks you are working on.
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Variance – The variance view compares the original baseline plan to the current plan highlight changes to tasks over time. These changes, or variances, may be in terms of either the targeted dates, the estimated quantity of work, or both.
These views also can be customized and new views can be defined. Whichever view you select, the same view displays again the next time you access that page.
You can also view a Gantt Chart to open a popup window with a graphical representation of tasks for the project.
Gantt Chart
On the Schedule subtab, you can click View Gantt Chart to open a new window with a Gantt chart of the project. A Gantt chart is a bar chart that represents the project schedule and clearly illustrates the start, end, milestones, and progress of individual tasks.
The Gantt chart offers an interface that allows for zooming and scrolling through the project schedule and highlighting important project metrics, such as the critical path.
NetSuite calculates the critical path of your project by determining the tasks that must stay on schedule for the project to be completed on time.
You can also filter the Gantt chart to show tasks with less than 30% complete and highlight tasks scheduled for longer than seven days. The chart offers a visual tool that can be used to gauge project health and keep schedules on track.