Fields (Task Plan)

The actual cost to complete actual work for a task (or a task plan).

The amount of time (typically measured in working days) that has been actually needed to complete actual work for a task (or a task plan).

The date by which work on a task (or a task plan) actually finished.

The actual cost to complete actual work for a task to which a fixed cost is associated.

The date by which work on a task (or a task plan) actually started.

The amount of work that has been completed, to-date, by all resources who have been assigned to a task (or a task plan).

Actual cost of work performed. The actual cost of all completed work, including resource costs, actual work, fixed costs, and so on, up to the current date.

The amount of units for which a resource is assigned to a task. Assignment units are a percentage, where 100% is used as the maximum value.

Budget at completion. The total planned cost to complete every scheduled task. This is sometimes called baseline cost.

The original, planned cost for a task (or a task plan).

The original, planned duration for a task (or a task plan).

The original, planned finish date for a task (or a task plan).

The original, planned start date for a task (or a task plan).

The original, planned work for a task (or a task plan).

Budgeted cost of work performed. The cumulative costs of planned work that has been actually completed, and then compared to the original estimates for that work. This is sometimes called earned value (EV).

Budgeted cost of work scheduled. The planned cost of total amount of work that has been scheduled. This is sometimes called planned value (PV).

A capital expense is a cost of doing business that is typically associated with expenditures for fixed asset work item that are understood to have a benefit to the organization that exceeds one year> For example, such as buildings and equipment are considered to be capital expenses, whereas rent, office supplies, or utility expenses (such as electricity or Internet access) are not considered to be capital expenses. If an expense is not a capital expense, it is considered to be an operational expense.

Indicates whether the task is complete.

The date and time at which all reported actuals against a task have been reported.

The date (start or finish) upon which the constraint is based. Required for Finish No Earlier Than, Finish No Later Than, Must Finish On, Must Start On, Start No Earlier Than, or Start No Later Than. This is not used with the As Late As Possible or As Soon As Possible constraints.

The constraint that has been set for a task. A constraint can be one of the following: As Late As Possible, As Soon As Possible, Finish No Earlier Than, Finish No Later Than, Must Finish On, Must Start On, Start No Earlier Than, or Start No Later Than.

The amount of money that is spent to produce something of value. In a task plan, a cost is the amount of money that is spent while finishing a task. For example, a resource's hourly billing rate or the cost of renting a tractor (a material resource) for a day. A cost can be associated with a task, a resource, an assignment, or a task plan.

Cost performance index. The difference in value between the budgeted cost of work performed and the actual cost of work performed. The calculation for cost performance index is as follows: CPI = BCWP / ACWP. When the cost performance index is greater than 1, it is an indicator that the task plan is over budget.

The date and time at which a task was added to a task plan.

Indicates whether a task is on the critical path. The critical path is based on the longest possible sequence of tasks, factoring in their start dates, finish dates, dependencies, and constraints, and then comparing the calculated finish date of the last task in the sequence to the planned finish date for the task plan. A task on the critical path must be finished on time in order for the task plan to be finished on time.

Cost schedule index. The difference in value between the cost performance index and schedule performance index. The calculation for cost schedule index is as follows: CSI = CPI x SPI. Cost schedule index should be as close to 1 as possible. When the cost schedule index is not one, it is an indicator that the task plan is behind schedule and over budget. The farther away from 1, the farther behind and/or over budget the task plan is.

Cost variance. The difference between planned costs of work performed and the actual costs of work performed. The calculation for cost variance is as follows: CV = BCWP - ACWP. When the cost variance is less than 1, it is an indicator that the task plan is over budget.

Cost variance percentage. The percentage over or under budget, based on cost variance and the planned cost of work in the task plan. The calculation for cost variance percentage is as follows: CV% = CV / BCWP. When the cost variance percentage is greater than 1, it is an indicator that the task plan is under budget.

A deadline is a date in the task plan schedule by which a task needs to be completed. A deadline appears in a Gantt chart view as a diamond.

Indicates whether the task is displayed as a milestone task. A milestone is a task that has a duration of zero days.

A duration is the total amount of time required to complete a task, based on a task's start and finish dates. A duration is always based on how a day is defined in the working calendar associated with the task plan. A day is defined (by default) as being 8 hours; therefore, a duration of 1 day in a task is 8 hours.

Estimate at completion. The expected cost to complete all remaining work. The calculation for estimate at completion is as follows: EAC = ACWP + (BAC - BCWP). BAC - BCWP represents the planned costs of all uncompleted tasks. This is sometimes referred to as the estimate to complete (ETC).

The date by which a task can finish without having to be constrained or to be dependent on a predecessor or successor task.

The date by which a task can start without having to be constrained or to be dependent on a predecessor or successor task.

Earned value method. This field is manually entered (and its value is not calculated). Use earned value method when there are tasks in a task plan that require physical percent complete.

Indicates whether the total amount of work required to complete the task is directly affected by the number of resources that have been assigned to it.

Indicates from where in the task plan that budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) values are derived.

Indicates whether the task's duration is an estimated duration. When a duration is an estimated duration, a question mark (?) will appear alongside it in the task plan.

The date on which a task is scheduled to finish.

The difference between the baseline finish date for a task and the current, actual, scheduled finish date.

The amount of time in a task plan where a task can be delayed without causing a predecessor task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

A cost that is not associated with a resource.

Indicates how a fixed cost is applied to a task. A fixed cost can be applied when the task is started, when the task ends, or as the task progresses.

The amount of time in a task plan where a task can be delayed without causing a successor task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

The unique ID for a task.

Indicates whether the task, when scheduled, ignores calendars that are associated with one or more resources who are assigned to this task (or task plan).

The indicators that are associated with this task. A graphical indicator shows special conditions that may exist for tasks in that spreadsheet, such as whether the task is 100% complete (), has a note ( ), has a constraint (), missed its deadline (), uses its own calendar ( ) and not the task plan calendar, cannot be completed as scheduled (), has a parent task to which resources are assigned ( ), is a subproject (), or is a subproject that cannot be opened ( ).

Indicates that this task is a parent task in the work breakdown structure.

Indicates that the task (or task plan) has been modified since it was last saved.

The date by which a task must finish before it causes another task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

The date by which a task must start before it causes another task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

The amount of time that a task can be delayed, based on its early start date.

The name of a task (or a task plan).

The notes that have been entered about a task (or a task plan).

The unique ID for the parent task.

The progress made against a task (or a task plan), expressed as a percentage (of 100%).

The amount of work that has been completed for a task (or a task plan), expressed as a percentage (of 100%).

The percentage of work completed, measured independently of a task's duration. Use physical percent complete to manually override budgeted cost of work performed values when the process of completing a task can be measured independently of the task's duration. Sometimes used as an alternative to budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS).

The unique ID for a predecessor task in the task plan.

Indicates the importance of the task in relation to other tasks. 500 is the default value; 1000 is the highest priority and 0 is the lowest priority. The higher the number, the higher the priority.

The ID for the task plan.

The cost required to finish the remaining amount of work for all resources assigned to the task.

The amount of time required to finish the remaining amout of work for all resources assigned to the task.

The amount of time required for all resources (who are assigned to the task) to complete the task.

The name of a group to which a resource belongs. This is typically the same group names used by your organization's directory service.

The intials of a resource, or an abbreviation of that resources full resource name.

The name of the resource (or resources) who are assigned to a task in a task plan.

This field is not used in the Task Plan view.

The amount of time remaining for a scheduled task, based on the percent of work that has already been completed.

Schedule performance index. The difference in value between current progress and the expected progress. The calculation for schedule performance index is as follows: SPI = BCWP / BCWS. When the schedule performance index is less than 1, it is an indicator that the task plan is behind schedule.

The date on which a task is scheduled to start.

The difference between the baseline start date for a task and the current, actual, scheduled start date.

The amount of time in a task plan where a predecessor task can be delayed without causing a successor task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

The date on which actual work for a task will finish.

The unique ID for one or more successor tasks in the task plan.

Schedule variance. The difference in costs between current progress and expected progress. The calculation for schedule variance is as follows: SV = BCWP - BCWS. When the schedule variance is less than 0, it is an indicator that the task plan is behind schedule.

Schedule variance percent. A percentage that shows how well the schedule is doing in relation to the cost of scheduled work. The calculation for schedule variance percent is as follows: SV% = (SV / BCWS) * 100. When the schedule variance percentage is greater than 1, it is an indicator that the task plan is behind schedule.

The calendar that is associated with the task (or, more commonly, the entire task plan). The calendar associated with the task plan is the default calendar for all tasks and resources associated with that task plan.

To-complete performance index. A ratio of remaining work. The difference between the planned costs of all completed tasks to the to the planned costs of all remaining, uncompleted tasks. The calculation for to-complete performance index is as follows: TCPI = [BAC - BCWP] / [BAC - ACWP]. When the to-complete performance index is greater than 1, it is an indicator that close attention should be paid to all of the work that remains so that the task plan can stay within budget.

Indicates whether the timesheet is closed.

Indicates whether the timesheet is complete.

The amount of time in a task plan where a task can be delayed without causing another task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

The total amount of time in a task plan where a predecessor task can be delayed without causing a successor task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

The total amount of time in a task plan where a task can be delayed without causing a successor task (or the task plan itself) to be delayed.

The unique ID for a task in a task plan.

The work breakdown structure for a task in a task plan. This is used to identify a predecessor task within the work breakdown structure. For example, 1.B.c or 5.A.f.

The work breakdown structure for a task in a task plan. This is used to idenfity a successor task within the work breakdown structure. For example, 1.A.a or 2.B.c.

Variance at completion. The difference between the the total planned cost to complete every scheduled task and the expected cost to complete all remaining work. The calculation for variance at completion is as follows: BAC - EAC. When the variance at completion is negative, it is an indicator that your task plan is over budget.

Work breakdown structure. The hierarchy of tasks in a task plan. A work breakdown structure is often represented as a series of delimited numbers, letters, and/or characters, separated by period, plus, slash, and/or minus symbols. For example, 1.A.a could be the way that your organization chooses to define the sequence. When a task is the 2nd summary task in the task plan (itself with a series of summary tasks), the 3rd task for the 2nd sub-summary task would have a work breakdown structure of 2.B.c.

Work breakdown structure, parent. A parent task in the work breakdown structure is also known as a summary task.

Work breakdown structure, predecessor. A predecessor task is a task that determines when another task (a successor) can be scheduled. Any precessor task in the work breakdown structure will also have a unique ID.

Work breakdown structure, successor. A successor task is a task that has its schedule determined by another task (a predecessor). Any successor task in the work breakdown structure will also have a unique ID.

The total amount of work that has been scheduled for a task.