ACWP fields

The ACWP (actual cost of work performed) fields show costs incurred for work already done on a task, up to the project status date or today's date.

There are several categories of ACWP fields.

Data Type    Currency

ACWP (task field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When a task is first created, the ACWP field contains 0.00. As progress (percentage of completion or actual work) is reported on the task, Microsoft Office Project calculates the actual cost of work performed (ACWP). This is the cost of actual work plus any fixed costs for the task to date. By default, how and when ACWP is calculated depends on the assigned resources' Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, Per Use Cost, and Cost accrual settings in the Resource Information dialog box, as well as the actual work reported, fixed costs for tasks, and the status date or today's date. Project can calculate ACWP even if you do not have resources assigned. In this case, the calculations are based on progress (percentage of completion or actual work) and fixed costs to date for the task. If you prefer, you can have ACWP calculated based on your entries in the Actual Cost (timephased) field. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab. Clear the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Office Project check box.

Best Uses    Use the ACWP field in conjunction with the BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) field to compare actual to budgeted assignment costs. Use the CV (earned value cost variance) field to see the difference between the two fields. Add any or all of these fields to a task view to display the resulting expense of a task based on actual work and the hourly rates of the assigned resources, along with any other costs incurred up to the status date or today's date.

Example    You need to report on ACWP as of last Friday. You enter Friday's date as the status date, and then review the costs on a task that has a 10-hour duration. The assigned resources earn $20 per hour, and they have reported five hours of actual work as of last Friday, and another five hours as of today. Using the status date, Project calculates that the ACWP up to last Friday is $100. If you used today's date as the status date, the ACWP would be calculated as $200.

Remarks    Because the ACWP information is maintained on a timephased basis, ACWP is calculated from the first actual cost entry to the status date or today's date.

ACWP (resource field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    If a resource has not yet reported any work on any of the assigned tasks, the actual cost of work performed (ACWP) field contains 0.00. As progress (percentage of completion or actual work) is reported by the resource on various tasks, Microsoft Office Project calculates the ACWP. This is the cost of actual work plus any per-use costs for the resource to date. By default, how and when ACWP is calculated depends on the resource's Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, Per Use Cost, and Cost accrual settings in the Resource Information dialog box, as well as the status date or today's date. If you prefer, you can have ACWP calculated based on your entries in the Actual Cost (timephased) field. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab. Clear the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Office Project check box.

Best Uses    Use the ACWP field in conjunction with the BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) field to compare actual to budgeted assignment costs. Use the CV (earned value cost variance) field to see the difference between the two fields. Add any or all of these fields to a resource view to display the resulting expense of a resource's work on all assigned tasks, based on the resource's actual work, hourly rate, and other incurred costs through the status date.

Example    You need to report on ACWP as of last Friday. You enter Friday's date as the status date, and then review the costs for a resource that has a cost of $20 per hour. The resource is assigned to 15 different tasks throughout the duration of the project. You add the ACWP field to the Resource Sheet view to see how much this resource has cost up through last Friday. At the end of the project, you can use the ACWP field to see how much of the budget was spent for this resource to help with cost analysis and future planning.

Remarks    Because the ACWP information is maintained on a timephased basis, ACWP is calculated from the first actual cost entry to the status date or today's date.

ACWP (assignment field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When an assignment is first made, the actual cost of work performed (ACWP) field contains 0.00. As progress (percentage of completion or actual work) is reported by the assigned resource, Microsoft Office Project calculates ACWP for the assignment. This is the cost of actual work plus any per-use costs for the assignment to date. By default, how and when ACWP is calculated depends on the assigned resource's Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, Per Use Cost, and Cost accrual settings in the Resource Information dialog box, as well as the assignment's actual work reported and the status date or today's date. If you prefer, you can have ACWP calculated based on your entries in the Actual Cost (timephased) field. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab. Clear the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Office Project check box.

Best Uses    Use the ACWP field in conjunction with the BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) field to compare actual to budgeted assignment costs. Use the CV (earned value cost variance) field to see the difference between the ACWP and BCWP fields. Add any or all of these fields to the sheet portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view to display the resulting expense of an assignment based on actual work and the hourly rates of the assigned resources, along with any other costs incurred up to the status date.

Example    You need to report on ACWP as of last Friday. You enter Friday's date as the status date, and then review the costs on a task assignment that has a 10-hour duration. The assigned resource is $20 per hour, and the resource has reported five hours of actual work as of last Friday, and another five hours as of today. Using the status date, Project calculates that the ACWP up to last Friday is $100. If you used today's date as the status date, the ACWP would be calculated as $200.

Remarks    Because the ACWP information is maintained on a timephased basis, ACWP is calculated from the first actual cost entry to the status date or today's date.

ACWP (task-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When a task is first created, the actual cost of work performed (ACWP) field contains 0.00. As progress (percentage of completion or actual work) is reported on the task, Microsoft Office Project calculates ACWP. This is the cost of actual work plus any fixed costs for the task to date. By default, how and when ACWP is calculated depends on the assigned resources' Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, Per Use Cost, and Cost accrual settings in the Resource Information dialog box, as well as the actual work reported, fixed costs for tasks, and the status date or today's date. Project can calculate ACWP even if you do not have resources assigned. In this case, the calculations are based on progress (percentage of completion or actual work) and fixed costs to date for the task. If you prefer, you can have ACWP calculated based on your entries in the Actual Cost (timephased) field. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab. Clear the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Office Project check box.

Best Uses    Use the ACWP field in conjunction with the BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) field to compare actual to budgeted assignment costs. Use the CV (earned value cost variance) field to see the difference between the two fields. Add any or all of these fields to the timephased portion of the Task Usage view to display the resulting expense of a task based on actual work and the hourly rates of the assigned resources over time, along with any other costs up to the status date or today's date.

Example    It's Friday, and you need to report on timephased ACWP for a task that has a five-day duration, scheduled from Monday through Friday of this week. The two assigned resources each have a cost of $20 per hour, and they have reported eight hours of actual work on the task through Tuesday, and another nine hours of work since then. If you want to see the timephased ACWP as of Tuesday, you enter Tuesday's date as the status date, and then review the ACWP for the task in the Task Usage view. Using the status date, Project calculates that the timephased ACWP up through Tuesday is $80 and $160 (four hours on Monday and four hours on Tuesday, cumulative). If you used today's date as the status date, the timephased ACWP would be $80, $160, $220, $280, and $340 for Monday through Friday, respectively.

Remarks    Because the ACWP information is maintained on a timephased basis, ACWP can be graphed from the first actual cost entry to the status date or today's date.

ACWP (resource-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    If a resource has not yet reported any work on any of the assigned tasks, the actual cost of work performed (ACWP) field contains 0.00. As progress (percentage of completion or actual work) is reported by the resource on various tasks, Microsoft Office Project calculates ACWP. This is the cost of actual work plus any per-use costs for the resource to date. By default, how and when ACWP is calculated depends on the resource's Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, Per Use Cost, and Cost accrual settings in the Resource Information dialog box, as well as the status date or today's date. If you prefer, you can have ACWP calculated based on your entries in the Actual Cost (timephased) field. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab. Clear the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Office Project check box.

Best Uses    Use the ACWP field in conjunction with the BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) field to compare actual to budgeted assignment costs. Use the CV (earned value cost variance) field to see the difference between the two fields. Add any or all of these fields to the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view to display the resulting expense of the resource's work on all assigned tasks over time up to the status date or today's date, based on the resource's actual work, hourly rate, and other incurred costs.

Example    You need to report on ACWP as of last Friday. You enter Friday's date as the status date, and then review the costs for a resource that has a cost of $10 per hour. The resource is assigned to 15 different tasks throughout the duration of the project. You add the ACWP field to the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view to see how much this resource has cost through last Friday. You might see timephased ACWP values such as $80 (eight hours at $10 per hour) for each day cumulatively through last Friday, that is, $80, $160, $240, $320, and so on. If the resource is assigned at fewer assignment units, or has fewer actual hours of work, you might see lower ACWP values. If the resource has worked any overtime, you might see higher ACWP values.

Remarks    Because the ACWP information is maintained on a timephased basis, ACWP can be graphed from the first actual cost entry to the status date or today's date.

ACWP (assignment-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When an assignment is first made, the actual cost of work performed (ACWP) field contains 0.00. As progress (percentage of completion or actual work) is reported by the assigned resource, Microsoft Office Project calculates ACWP for the assignment. This is the cost of actual work plus any per-use costs for the assignment to date. By default, how and when ACWP is calculated depends on the assigned resource's Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, Per Use Cost, and Cost accrual settings in the Resource Information dialog box, as well as the assignment's actual work values and the status date or today's date. If you prefer, you can have ACWP calculated based on your entries in the Actual Cost (timephased) field. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Calculation tab. Clear the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Office Project check box.

Best Uses    Use the ACWP field in conjunction with the BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) field to compare actual to budgeted assignment costs. Use the CV (earned value cost variance) field to see the difference between the two fields. Add any or all of these fields to the timephased portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view to display the resulting expense of an assignment based on actual work and the hourly rates of the assigned resources over time, along with any other costs.

Example    It's Friday, and you need to report on timephased ACWP for an assignment that has a five-day duration, scheduled from Monday through Friday of this week. The assigned resource has a cost of $20 per hour, and the resource has reported eight hours of actual work through Tuesday, and another nine hours of work since then. If you want to see the timephased ACWP as of Tuesday, you enter Tuesday's date as the status date, and then review the ACWP for the assignment on either the Task Usage or Resource Usage view. Using the status date, Project calculates that the timephased ACWP up through Tuesday is $80 and $160 (four hours on Monday, and four hours on Tuesday, cumulative). If you used today's date as the status date, the timephased ACWP would be $80, $160, $220, $280, and $340 for Monday through Friday, respectively.