Earned Value Problem with MSP 2003

[hadjionm]

I often get summary tasks showing a schedule variance in the following
situations:

1. All the tasks below the summary are completed (and therefore can not
have a schedule variance).

2. The tasks are not completed but do not have any schedule variance
themselves.

Am I correct in assuming that the schedule variance of a summary task
must ALWAYS be the sum of its subordinate tasks?

Is there a way of 'refreshing' the earned value calculations which have
been rolled up to the summary tasks without rebaselining the subordinate
tasks?

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

Are you saying that absolutely none of the subtasks have an SV of anything
but 0, but the summary does?

I would recommend that you check your status date: Project > Project Information.
SV for summary tasks calculates just like a subtask: SV = EV - PV.

In Project, the EV is rolled up as a sum to the summary task, as is the PV.
The summary task then applies the SV formula to the calculation.

Whether or not the tasks are completed is somewhat irrelevant. The important
question is that *as of the Status Date* what EV has been accrued. Thus,
even if a task has been completed, if it did not happen exactly on schedule,
if the status date bisects the task, it will show up as having a SV. SV
only zeroes out in that case if the status date is after the completed task
(both Finish and Baseline Finish).

To use EVMS effectively, you should then confirm that you are following best
practice: No unfinished work prior to the status date. No finished work
after the status date.

-A

 

[hadjionm]

Hi Andrew,

Most definitely I get a SV for tasks completed weeks ago, well befor
the status date. I set the status date to the last Friday, and update m
schedules each week so that ALL tasks before and including the Frida
are complete, and reschedule into the future all incomplete work. But
am always geting these sort of recurring problems:

Finished tasks with a SV

Summary tasks with a SV even though all the subordinate tasks ar
finished.

Any ideas

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

I can't recreate this issue. Whenever I have a completed task in the past,
SV calculates as 0.

Forget if I asked you this before, but are you using % Complete or Physical
% Complete for your EVMS management method? Add the field Earned Value Method
to the task table to see. That's the only thing I could think of which would
cause this.

-A

 

[hadjionm]

Hi Andrew,

I am using the %Complete method.

I have worked out what the problem was wrt completed tasks having
schedule variance. The SV was actually positive as the baseline was i
the future and the tasks were completed early!

I still get the error, though, of some summary tasks' SV not being th
sum of the contained tasks. MSProject does not give a method o
"refreshing" the rolled up earned value calculations, so I created
dummy task of zero value under the summary and saved it to the baseline
which refreshed the value rolled up to the summary.

Regards Matthew

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

Thanks for the update.

-A

Hi Andrew,

I am using the %Complete method.

I have worked out what the problem was wrt completed tasks having a
schedule variance. The SV was actually positive as the baseline was in
the future and the tasks were completed early!

I still get the error, though, of some summary tasks' SV not being the
sum of the contained tasks. MSProject does not give a method of
"refreshing" the rolled up earned value calculations, so I created a
dummy task of zero value under the summary and saved it to the
baseline, which refreshed the value rolled up to the summary.

Regards Matthew

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