msproject4

Consumer Market Study Project – Assignment #4 This is the final installment of the Consumer Market Study project. You will need your project file from Assignment #3. In this assignment, we will discuss how Microsoft Project can be used to support the techniques discussed in Chapter7, based on the Consumer Market Study example. We are now ready to enter costs for resources, produce cost reports, and examine cash flow and earned value. Microsoft Project calculates the costs of the project by using rates for work, material, and cost resources. These are entered on the Resource Sheet or on the Resources Tab in the Task Information window (after double-clicking on the task name). Let’s start by accessing the Resource Sheet by clicking on the View Ribbon, then in the Resource Views group click on Resource Sheet. You should see the screen in Figure 1. Figure 1:

Figure 2:

The rates for work resources and for material resources are recorded on the Resource Sheet by entering in the standard rate in the “Std. Rate” column for each resource and any applicable overtime rates in the “Ovt.” Column (red arrows, Figure 2). Enter the rate information from the Std. Rate and Ovt. fields in Figure 2 so that your sheet looks the same. Don’t forget lines 6 & 7. The rate for work resources is cost per hour. The rate for material resources is cost per use. For the cost resource (Travel Expense) Susan will submit her travel expenses when she completes pilot testing the questionnaire. For Travel Expense, click into the “Accrue At” column and update it to End (blue arrow, Figure 2) using the pull-down menu. Next, we will go to back to the Gantt Chart (View/Gantt Chart). The cost of a cost resource is assigned at the task level by double-clicking on the task name in the Gantt Chart and editing the cost value on the Resources tab. To enter the $3000 costs for travel, double click on Pilot-Test Questionnaire (red arrow, Figure 3) to open the Task Information window. Click on the Resources tab. In the Cost column, enter 3000.00. Click OK to close the window. Note the [$3000.00] next to Travel Expenses in the Resource Names column (blue arrow, Figure 3). Figure 3:

Examine the Resources for the tasks Print Questionnaire and Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses to be sure that you are using only one unit of the material resources assigned to each task. In the Resource Names column (yellow arrow, Figure 3) you can see a numeral 1 in brackets to show the number of the material resource you are using. If you need to change the number of units, double click on the task name and change the number of units on the Resource tab in the Task Information window. Now that the information about the project has been entered related to the resources and their costs, it is a good time to save your project and set the baseline for the project. Recall that to set the baseline, go to the Project ribbon, in the Schedule group click on Set Baseline and select Set Baseline from the drop-down list. Set the baseline for the Entire project and click OK. Setting the baseline at this point is critical for the rest of the assignment to work. Figure 4:

Retrieve the Work Overview Report shown in Figure 4. On the Report ribbon, click on Dashboards in the View Reports group. Choose Work Overview from the drop-down menu. If you have been updating your task resource information, then this report will show you the actual versus baseline for work resources. The Work Overview report provides a quick report for stakeholders about the key performance information for the project.

Five different standard cost reports can be obtained in Microsoft Project: Cash Flow, Cost Overruns, Earned Value Report, Resource Cost Overview, and Task Cost Overview. Let’s look at the Cash Flow report. Go to the Report ribbon and click on Costs in the View Reports group. A drop-down menu will allow you to select one of the five reports. Choose Cash Flow to generate a Cash Flow Report. The Cash Flow Report in Figure 5 provides a breakdown of costs on a quarterly basis. Note that the Baseline Cost and the Remaining Cost values for the project are the same at this time. If the Baseline cost reads $0 and you have entered costs for resources assigned to tasks, check that the baseline has been set for the project. Figure 5:

Let us examine what happens to the project when actual finish dates are entered. Go to the Gantt Chart. Recall that Susan completed the Identify Target Consumers in 2 days, developed the draft questionnaire in 9 days, and pilot-tested the questionnaire in 19 days. Double-click each task and enter the actual finish dates (blue arrows, Figure 6) and mark the three tasks Susan completed as 100 percent complete as indicated with the red arrows in Figure 6. If you get a message to start before the project start date, you must enter the percent complete first, then the date. Figure 6:

Because Susan is completed with pilot testing the questionnaire, she will submit her actual expenses up to the budgeted amount of $3,000 for the project. Susan submitted $3,000 for her expenses. To record the actual expenses for a Cost resource, the information is entered on the Task Usage sheet. Navigate to the Task ribbon. In the View Group, click on the down arrow on Gantt Chart (green arrow, Figure 6) and select Task Usage from the drop-down list.

To enter the $3,000.00 for Susan’s travel expenses, double click on Travel Expense to open the Assignment Information window (red arrow, Figure 7). On the Tracking tab (blue arrow, Figure 7), enter the actual expense, $3,000 (green arrow, Figure 7), and enter the task as 100% complete (yellow arrow, Figure 7). Click the ok button. Figure 7:

Cost information within MS Project is calculated based upon the status date of the project. Susan’s third task was to finish on February 27. To set the status date to February 27, 2018, go to the Project ribbon in the Properties group click on Project Information (red arrow, Figure 8) to open the Project Information window. Enter 2/27/18 in the Status Date field or select the date from the drop-down calendar (blue arrow, Figure 8). The status date can be set to the current date or any date before the current date. Click the Ok button. Figure 8:

Now that actual dates for tasks have been entered and tasks marked as completed, MS Project records the actual costs and the remaining costs based upon the status date. Retrieve the Cash Flow report again (Report ribbon, click on Costs in the View Reports group, and select Cash Flow from the drop-down). The Cash Flow Report in Figure 9 indicates the actual cost that has been incurred in the project, the baseline cost, the remaining cost, and the cost variance as of the status date 2/27/2018. Figure 9:

Compare the values displayed in Figures 5 and 9, note that the values in the tables indicate the changes in the actual cost, remaining cost, and cost variance. Note in Figure 9, the Actual Cost is reduced by the amount of time saved on the project by Susan completing the tasks early. MS Project reports the ACWP value without including the costs associated with cost resources. Note that the difference between the Actual Cost and the value for ACWP is equal to the amount of the cost resource, Travel Expense. Next, let’s look at the Task Cost Overview Report. Go back to Report Ribbon, View Reports Group, Costs, and select Task Costs Overview. The result is shown in Figure 10. It shows cost status, distribution, and details for the top-level tasks in the consumer market study project. The actual cost, remaining cost, total cost, baseline cost, and cost variance for the top-level activities are displayed. Recall that Susan finished each of the tasks one day early. The cost variance indicates that the project is currently operating under budget. Figure 10:

To retrieve the cost table shown in Figure 11 is a two-step process. First, go to the View ribbon, click on Gantt Chart pull-down arrow in the Task Views group and select Tracking Gantt from the menu. Second, on the View ribbon, go to the Data Group and click on Tables. Choose Cost from the drop-down menu. For each task, this table provides information about total, baseline, actual, and remaining costs, along with any variances. The Tracking Gantt chart displays a pair of bars for each task with a bar on the top for the time to complete the task and a bar on the bottom for the baseline time for the task. Figure 11:

You can also generate a cost variance table for resources. To do this, you would need to view the resource sheet (on the View ribbon, click on Resource Sheet in the Resource Views group) and then view the cost table (on the View ribbon, click on Tables in the Data group and choose Cost from the menu). Examine the entries for Susan in the table shown in Figure 12. Figure 12:

That’s it for MS Project Assignment #4! Save your Project and deposit it into the Dropbox. THIS IS THE FILE THAT YOU WILL SUBMIT TO THE DROPBOX.