How to Track Planned and Actual Daily Hours in Microsoft Project
Question details
The user needs to compare planned working hours against actual hours for resources on a daily or weekly basis while preserving historical baseline data.
- Product
- Microsoft Project
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Conducting weekly progress reviews and tracking resource time.
- Observed behavior
- The user wants to establish a tracking workflow that ensures the original project baseline is not overwritten when recording actuals.
Ensure you have saved an initial baseline for your project before entering any actual work hours, so you have a fixed point of reference to compare against.
Use Time-Phased Work Fields and Multiple Baselines
Utilize the Task Usage or Resource Usage views to enter daily actuals and save additional baselines to preserve history.
Microsoft Project allows you to view and edit time-phased data, meaning you can see work distributed over time (days, weeks, or months). By using the Work and Actual Work fields side-by-side in a usage view, you can easily log and compare planned vs. actual hours without affecting your original baseline.
Go to the 'Project' tab on the ribbon, click 'Set Baseline', and select 'Set Baseline'. Save this as 'Baseline' (the default) to lock in your original planned hours for the entire project.
Navigate to the 'View' tab and select either 'Task Usage' or 'Resource Usage' to display your time-phased data grid.
Right-click the details column on the right side of the view (the time-phased grid) and ensure both 'Work' (planned) and 'Actual Work' are checked to be displayed.
Click into the 'Actual Work' cells for specific days or weeks in the grid and input the exact hours completed by each resource.
If you need to re-plan future work without losing the original baseline, go to 'Project' > 'Set Baseline' and choose to save the new plan as 'Baseline 1' through 'Baseline 10'.
Manage Projects Efficiently with WPS Office
While Microsoft Project is a highly specialized tool, many teams successfully track planned vs. actual hours using spreadsheet-based project templates. WPS Office offers a free, lightweight, and highly compatible alternative to Microsoft Office. With WPS Spreadsheet, you can utilize built-in project management templates, Gantt charts, and resource trackers without the steep learning curve.
- 1. Download and install WPS Office: Download the free WPS Office suite from the official website and install it on your device.
- 2. Access project templates: Open WPS Spreadsheet and browse the template library for 'Project Tracking', 'Timesheet', or 'Gantt Chart'.
- 3. Customize your tracker: Use the pre-built columns to log planned hours, actual hours, and variances, saving your file in the highly compatible .xlsx format.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my planned hours change when I entered actual work in Microsoft Project?
By default, Microsoft Project recalculates remaining work when you enter actual work. If a task takes longer than expected, Project may extend the duration or adjust the remaining planned work. To keep your original plan visible for comparison, you must save and display a Baseline.
Can I track hours weekly instead of daily in Microsoft Project?
Yes. In the Task Usage or Resource Usage view, you can change the timescale of the right-hand grid. Right-click the timescale header, select 'Timescale', and set the Bottom Tier to 'Weeks' to enter and view actuals on a weekly basis.
How do I compare Baseline Work with Actual Work in a standard task view?
In any task sheet view (like the Gantt Chart view), right-click a column header and choose 'Insert Column'. Add the 'Baseline Work' and 'Actual Work' columns. You can also insert the 'Work Variance' column, which automatically calculates the difference between your baseline plan and the actual work recorded.
