Budget value is earned based on the weight designated for each milestone. The weight is a proportion of the total work for all milestones assigned to a WBS element. Milestone weights are expressed in the base unit you have selected for the WBS element. The unit should match the Estimate Type for your Baseline. For example, if the Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) is Total Cost, you would specify the milestone weights as Total Cost. Equivalent units, Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) hours or dollars, or any other values may be entered in the weight field.
Milestone weights must represent 100% of the work required to complete a task, but they do not have to equal 100.
How MPM handles weights depends on the Earned Value Method (EVM) you selected for the WBS element.
If you selected Milestone Weights or Milestone Weights with % Complete for the EVM, you can enter custom weights for each milestone.
If you selected one of the % Start / % Complete EVMs, MPM automatically fills in the matching percentages for the Start and Complete milestones. You cannot edit these percentages. You can add other milestones to the WBS element, however, you will not be able to enter weights for them.
If you selected any of the other EVMs, the Weight field is left blank.
If you selected Milestone Weights or Milestone Weights with % Complete for the EVM, you can enter custom weights for each milestone manually. You also have the option of using the Autoweight Milestones function to have MPM automatically calculate weights.
The Autoweight Milestones function calculates weights using the timephased budget (BCWS) and the BCWP Base Unit defined for a WBS element. If weights are already entered for a milestone, the calculated weights overwrite the existing weights.
Manual and automatic weighting are discussed in the following topics: