Percent work complete fields

The % Work Complete fields contain the current status of a task, resource, or assignment, expressed as the percentage of work that has been completed. You can enter percent work complete, or you can have Project calculate it for you based on actual work on the task.

There are several categories of % Work Complete fields.

Data Type    Percentage

Percent (%) Work Complete (task field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

How Calculated    When a task is first created, the percent work complete is zero percent. If you enter actual work for the task, Project calculates percent work complete as follows:

Percent Work Complete = (Actual Work / Work) * 100

If you type a value in the % Work Complete field, Project automatically calculates actual work and remaining work. Similarly, entering a value in the Actual Work or Remaining Work field automatically recalculates the other fields.

Best Uses    Add the % Work Complete field to a task sheet when you want to display, filter, or edit percent work complete for tasks. If you type a value in the % Work Complete field, Project automatically calculates actual work and remaining work. If the % Work Complete field is set to a value greater than zero, the Actual Start field is set to the scheduled start date if you have not yet entered an actual start date. If the %Work Complete field is set to 100, the Actual Finish field is set to the scheduled finish date.

Example    The "Write proposal" task is scheduled for 40 hours of work. So far, the assigned resources have reported 10 hours of actual work on the task. Project calculates that the task is 25 percent work complete.

In addition, the "Conduct client meetings" task is scheduled for 32 hours of work. The assigned resources have reported that 16 hours of work have been completed. In the % Work Complete field, you enter 50. The Actual Work field changes to 16 hours.

Remarks    By default, changes to a task's percent work complete value affect the actual work value. Similarly, changes to the actual work value affect its percent work complete value.

When you enter percent work complete, Project might adjust actual and remaining work around the current status date. If you prefer, you can leave these tracking fields in the project as originally scheduled, even if completed work is shown in the future or remaining work is shown in the past. You can do this in the Project Options dialog box.

You can set the status date to a date other than today's date in the Project Information dialog box.

Percent work complete indicates the status of the amount of work completed on a task so far. By contrast, percent complete indicates the status of the duration for a task so far.

Percent (%) Work Complete (resource field)

Entry Type    Calculated

Description    The % Work Complete field contains the current status of all tasks assigned to a resource expressed as the total percentage of the resource's work that has been completed.

How Calculated    When a resource is first added, the percent work complete for the resource is zero percent. As soon as tasks are assigned to the resource, and any actual work or percent work complete is entered for any of the resource's assignments, the total percent work complete for the resource is calculated. Project calculates the resource's percent work complete as follows:

Percent Work Complete = (Actual Work / Work) * 100

Best Uses    Add the % Work Complete field to a resource sheet when you want to display or filter that percent work complete for a resource. This can help you review how a resource is progressing on all assigned tasks.

Example    Jamie is assigned to four tasks for a total of 40 hours of work. Until Jamie reports any actual work on any of the tasks, the percent work complete is zero. Jamie reports that five hours of work has been done on one task, and 15 hours of work has been done on another task. Because 20 hours of actual work has been performed out of 40 hours of total work scheduled, Project calculates that Jamie has 50 percent work complete on all assigned tasks.

Percent (%) Work Complete (assignment field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

Description    The % Work Complete field contains the current status of an assignment expressed as the percentage of the assignment's work that has been completed. You can enter percent work complete, or you can have Project calculate it for you based on actual work on the assignment.

How Calculated    When an assignment is first made, the percent work complete is zero. If you enter actual work for the assignment, Project calculates percent work complete as follows:

Percent Work Complete = (Actual Work / Work) * 100

If you type a value in the % Work Complete field, Project automatically calculates actual work and remaining work. If the % Work Complete field is set to a value greater than zero, the Actual Start field is set to the scheduled start date if you have not yet entered an actual start date. If the % Work Complete field is set to 100, the Actual Finish field is set to the scheduled finish date. Similarly, entering a value in the Actual Work or Remaining Work field automatically recalculates the other fields.

Best Uses    Add the % Work Complete field to the sheet portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view when you want to display, filter, or edit percent work complete for assignments.

Example    Jamie is assigned to the "Write proposal" task for 40 hours of work. So far, Jamie has reported 20 hours of actual work on this assignment. Project calculates that the assignment is 50 percent work complete.

In addition, Jamie is assigned to 32 hours of work for the "Conduct client meetings" task. Jamie has reported that 16 hours have just been completed. In the % Work Complete field, you enter 50. The Actual Work field changes to 16 hours.

Remarks    By default, changes to a task's percent work complete value affect the actual work value. Similarly, changes to the actual work value affect its percent work complete value.

When you enter % Work Complete, Project might adjust actual and remaining work around the current status date. If you prefer, you can leave these tracking fields in the project as originally scheduled, even if completed work is shown in the future or remaining work is shown in the past. You can do this in the Project Options dialog box.

You can set the status date to a date other than today's date in the Project Information dialog box.

Percent work complete indicates the status of the amount of work completed on the assignment so far. By contrast, percent complete indicates the status of the duration for the task.