General Tab of the Explanation of Variance Form

When you display the Explanation of Variance Form View, PM Compass displays the General tab by default.

This help refers to default tabs and fields. Your system administrator may have modified these tabs and fields to meet your company's business requirements.

ID

This serves as the unique key field for each explanation of variance record. PM Compass automatically generates a value for this field, but you can also manually enter it. The identifier must be a unique value.

You can edit this field as long as you have not yet saved the record.

Due Date

When the Explanation of Variance is workflow generated, the Due Date field is disabled. The date displayed is the current date plus the number of days in the Default due date (number of days after workflow creation date) field on the General tab of Workflow Type Configuration, excluding the non-working days in the PM Compass calendar.

When the Explanation of Variance is manually created (either as a new workflow or copied from a current workflow), the date displayed is the date when the Explanation of Variance was created or copied plus the number of days in the Default due date (number of days after workflow creation date) field on the Workflow Type Configuration tab, excluding the non-working days in the PM Compass calendar. The due date becomes disabled when the workflow is in progress.

Title

When the Explanation of Variance is workflow generated, the Title field is disabled. The title starts with "Explanation of Variance:" and is followed by the product and control account for easy identification in the Lst View.

When the Explanation of Variance is manually created (either as a new workflow or copied from a current workflow), enter a title for the Explanation of Variance.

You cannot edit this field after you save the record unless the Explanation of Variance does not use a workflow.

Status Date

The period end date, displayed just below the due date. This field is read-only.

When Cobra is the cost system, the status date is copied from the project information; otherwise, the status is set by manually changing the period end date in Project Details.

When you create Explanation of Variances, check the status date on the form. You cannot create two Explanation of Variances for the same control account in the same status period.

Project

When the Explanation of Variance is workflow generated, the Project field is disabled. The project is the project name associated with the control account having one or more metrics that exceeded the thresholds.

When the Explanation of Variance is manually created (either as a new workflow or copied from a current workflow), click to select a project code. The Project Search dialog box displays.

Control Account

When the Explanation of Variance is workflow generated, the Control Account field is disabled. The control account is the control account that has one or more variances that exceeded the project thresholds. When you click the control account value in this field, the Cost Analysis form of a new PM Compass application instance launches, displaying the project's control accounts with control on the control account that is displayed on the form.

When the Explanation of Variance is manually created (either as a new workflow or copied from a current workflow), click to select a control account for an Explanation of Variance. The Control Account Search dialog box displays. After the project is entered and you click the Control Account lookup, the Control Account lookup limits selections to the selected project. The project can be modified within the control account lookup as you want it to, so that control accounts from another project are available. When the project is modified inside the Control Account lookup and a control account is selected, the modified project value will then populate the Project lookup field inside the form. Thus, the project and control account fields are always related to each other.

Cost Detail Grid

Grid Toolbar

Option

Description

Click the drop-down arrow to display the following options:

Print — Select this option to display the Print Preview form.
Export to Excel — Select this option to open the Microsoft Excel application with the grid’s contents displayed.

Top Grid Columns

Field Name	Description
	The first column displays the labels: Current and Cumulative. The Current row displays metric data for the current period. The Cumulative row displays data that includes all periods (including the last period completed) inception to date.
BCWS	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (Planned). The BCWS represents the hours or dollar amounts that have been budgeted for all work planned for the control account through the last period completed.
BCWP	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (Earned). The BCWP represents the hours or dollar amounts that were budgeted for completed work packages and/or completed portions of work packages.
ACWP	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Actual Cost of Work Performed (Actual Cost). The ACWP represents the actual hours or dollar amount expended during the current period and the period from the beginning of the effort through the end of the last period completed.
SV	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Schedule Variance.
SV %	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Schedule Variance percentage.
CV	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Cost Variance.
CV %	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Cost Variance percentage.
SPI	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Schedule Performance Index. The SPI is the ratio of work accomplished (BCWP) to the budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS).
CPI	This column displays the current and cumulative values of the Cost Performance Index. The CPI is the ratio of work accomplished (BCWP) to the actual cost of work performed (ACWP).

Bottom Grid Columns

Field Name	Description
	This column displays the label At complete, representing metric values at the completion of work on the control account.
BAC	This column displays the value of the Budget at Completion. The BAC is the amount budgeted to be spent throughout the duration of the project.
EAC	This column displays the value of the Estimate at Completion. The EAC is the amount estimated to be spent throughout the duration of the project. The EAC is the actual cost of all incurred costs to date plus the anticipated cost of remaining work.
VAC	This column displays the value of the Variance at Completion.
VAC %	This column displays the value of the Variance at Completion percentage.
TCPI to BAC	This column displays the To Complete Performance Index to the Budget At Completion ratio.
TCPI to EAC	This column displays the To Complete Performance Index to the Estimate At Completion ratio.

For more information, see the full list of Explanation of Variance Formulas.

Variances that exceeded thresholds

This lists the schedule and cost thresholds that have been exceeded. The variances are listed according to the following order as they were incurred:

Schedule variance — Current value, current percentage, cumulative value, and cumulative percentage.
Cost variance — Current value, current percentage, cumulative value, cumulative percentage, At complete value, and At complete percentage.

This field also includes values that were used to compute the amounts in the grid. For example, values calculated using: COM, DIRECT, FRINGE, G&A, OVERHEAD or HOURS.

Explain Variance vs. Cost Analysis Thresholds

The threshold setting for color-coding of the Cost Analysis view is different from that in the Explanation of Variance.

The Explanation of Variance uses the thresholds found on the WBS structure and include the AND or OR (value and/or percentage) option.
The Cost Analysis color-coding is based on the Use Color Banding check box and the information defined in the Cost Analysis Color Banding Ranges group box.

See Thresholds and Color Banding Explained for more information.

Copy Narratives

When you create a new Explanation of Variance in the next reporting period, you can click this button to display the Copy Narratives and Corrective Actions dialog box and copy forward the narrative information from the previous period. In addition, any open Corrective Actions are also copied forward to the current Explanation of Variance. If the prior Explanation of Variance does not exist then this button is disabled. This process helps track the corrective actions.

When Corrective Actions are copied from a previous Explanation of Variance form, the default due date is reset based on the Explanation of Variance definition in Workflow Type Configuration. You can manually change the due date on the copied corrective action.

This button is enabled if all of the following are true:

There is another Explanation of Variance that has the same control account identified on the form.
The Explanation of Variance is New, or In-Review.
You are currently assigned to the Explanation of Variance.

After you click the button, you can choose one of the following options:

Copy Narratives — copies the narratives from the last period.
Copy Open Corrective Actions — copies open corrective actions to this workflow. This is only enabled when open Corrective Action child workflows exist for the control account selected on the form.

In order to copy forward the child workflow, the parent Explanation of Variance for the Corrective Action must have completed the workflow steps and not be canceled.

Explanation of Variance

Use this field to explain what is causing the variance. Click Edit to display the Text Editor dialog box and edit the text or access other features like spell-check.

Impact

Enter the narrative for the Impact field. Click Edit to edit the text.

Corrective Action

Use this field to explain the corrective action that needs to be taken to get the actual costs aligned with the budget costs. Click Edit to edit the text.

Monthly Summary

Enter the narrative for the Monthly Summary field. Click Edit to edit the text.

What do you want to do?

Create a new Corrective Action

Assign a Corrective Action to the Explanation of Variance

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