Overview
Available exclusively in Expert plans, the Planned vs. Actual feature shows how actual progress compares to your original plan, with customizable styling that helps teams act fast and keep projects on track.
B) Edit tasks in the Edit Timeline tab
C) Edit Planned Start and End dates in the Edit Data tab
D) Planned vs. Actual Milestones
Consult the comprehensive guide, navigate using the links above to access specific sections, or view this video summary:
A) Enable Planned vs. Actual
Navigate to the Advanced Tools in the upper right corner of the Edit Timeline window to enable the Planned vs. Actual feature.
If you are on an Expert plan and do not see the ability to enable/disable Planned vs. Actual, you may need to update to the latest build of Office Timeline. You can download the latest build here.
- Click on Advanced Tools to access options for activating Planned vs. Actual, Dependencies, and Critical Path.
- Toggle the switch next to Planned vs. Actual to activate it.
- Once activated, you will see a grey line underneath each of your tasks. This is your baseline and represents the 'Planned' duration of your task.
- You can also enable/disable Planned vs. Actual from the side panel of the Edit Data tab.
Update the style of your baseline using the style pane.
B) Edit tasks in the Edit Timeline tab
You can drag and drop your Actual & Planned in the Edit Timeline tab.
C) Edit Planned Start and End dates in the Edit Data tab
When Planned vs. Actual is enabled, you will notice that you have additional columns in the Edit Data tab:
- Planned Start/End: Your baseline start and end date.
- Actual Start/End: Your actual start and end date.
Planned vs. Actual Milestones
While there are no visible baselines for milestones, you can still see any Delays or Advances using conditional formatting (see Styling Planned vs. Actual).
You can adjust the planned and actual dates of your milestones in the Edit Data tab.
D) Styling Planned vs. Actual
The Planned vs. Actual feature allows you to customize the appearance of both your Actual and Planned (Baseline) objects within the Style Pane.
With a task selected, the Actual tab will include all typical task customization, including shape, color, fonts, etc.
The Planned tab enables you to modify the color and transparency of your Baseline. Additionally, you can switch the visibility of your baseline on/off.
Also in the Planned tab is the ability to set Conditional Formatting.
Here, you can adjust the default colors for Delay and Advance.
E) Disable Planned vs. Actual
You can disable Planned vs. Actual via the toggle switches located in the Edit Timeline and Edit Data tabs.
Upon disabling Planned vs. Actual, you will be asked to choose if you wish to keep your tasks aligned with either the Planned or Actual start/end dates.
F) Frequently Asked Questions
What is Planned vs. Actual?
Planned vs. Actual is a timeline visualization tool that lets you compare planned dates to actual progress using side-by-side bars for each task. It makes delays and trends immediately visible.
Is this feature available on all plans?
Planned vs. Actual is available exclusively with Expert plans.
Can I use this with milestones?
Yes. You can adjust your Planned and Actual dates from the Edit Timeline tab.
Can I import my Planned vs. Actual data?
Planned vs. Actual data can currently be entered and edited manually in the Add-in. The feature to import data will be added in the future.
What customization options are available?
You can adjust the color and transparency of the baseline bar, as well as toggle its visibility for individual tasks. You can also use Conditional Formatting to set defaults for any delays or advances in your tasks.
Does it work with dependencies and templates?
Planned vs. Actual works with custom templates and is fully compatible with Office Timeline’s dependency management features.