Labor Plan Timeline Chart

Use the Labor Plan Timeline chart on the Labor page of the Planning tab for a quick view of how your project is trending over time. This chart provides details on the project's cumulative planned, baseline, and actual labor amounts, and enables you to compare them to the contract amount that was earned through today. This comparison of actuals to the original plan is helpful when analyzing the accuracy of original forecasts and determining how to improve future planning efforts.

The periods and amounts that display on the chart reflect the selected work breakdown structure (WBS) element's date range. If you leave the Labor Charts dialog box open, you can select other rows in the grid, and the chart updates automatically to reflect the currently selected row. The chart also updates automatically if you change data in the grid that affects the currently selected row.

Contents

As you review the chart, you can mouse over or tap on its data points to view specific amounts. The earliest and latest dates on the chart update based on the earliest and latest planned, baseline, and job-to-date (JTD) activity. If the date range for the selected WBS element in the plan is 0 to 180 days, the data points are weekly; if the range is greater than 180 days, the data points are monthly.

The amounts on this chart display at billing or cost, depending on the option you select in the upper-right corner of the form. Whether both options are available depends on the budget type selected for the project plan. If both Billing and Cost options are available, you can switch between them, and the chart's information will update accordingly. Billing or Cost displays as part of the chart title, so you know at a glance which you are viewing.

If your firm uses multiple currencies, the currency in use is indicated next to the Billing or Cost option. The project cost currency is always used when viewing projects and plans at cost. A configuration setting that your system administrator selects determines whether project cost currency or billing currency is used when you view projects and plans at billing.

When you select the Cost option, some information may not display if your security role does not provide access rights to labor cost rates and amounts.

Field	Description
Chart legend	The legend above the chart indicates the values represented on the chart and the line color for each. You can click an item in the legend to hide or display the corresponding line on the chart.
Contract (displays when the Billing option is selected)	This line represents the labor contract billing amount from the Contract planning grid.
Baseline	This line represents the planned labor billing or cost amount that is saved in the baseline.
Planned	This line represents the planned labor billing or cost amount through today's date.
Actual	This line represents the billing or cost amount for the posted and unposted labor charges through today's date.
Estimated Earned	This line represents the contract earned billing or cost amount based on the percent complete for the plan. The calculation of the estimated earned amount differs depending on whether you are viewing the chart at billing or at cost: At Billing: The percent complete is calculated for each period. This percentage is then applied to the contract amount for the selected WBS element to determine an estimated amount of the contract that has been earned for the period. At Cost: The percent complete is calculated for each period. This percentage is then applied to the contract amount for the selected WBS element and the result divided by the target multiplier to determine an estimated cost amount that has been earned for the period. Percent complete is calculated as follows: JTD amount / (JTD amount + Estimate-to-complete amount) The Estimated Earned line does not display in the following situations: No planned data exists. No JTD or estimate-to-complete data exists.