Compare financial baselines of a project

Compare baselines to review the variances in the financial data of a project and see what changed.

Before you begin

Role required: it_project_manager

About this task

You can create multiple baselines at various stages of a project, for example, at the end of each phase or after every calendar month or quarter. Each baseline captures the financial data of the project at a particular moment, providing a basis from which you can identify and review the changes made to the project. Having multiple baselines and comparing them helps you track the performance of your projects.

Procedure

1. To compare the financial baselines of a project, use one of the following options.

   Option	Steps
   From the Project Workspace	Navigate to All > Project > Projects > Project Workspace. Open a project. Select the Financials tab. Select the Baselines from header and then select Compare baselines.
   From the Project form	Navigate to All > Project > Projects > All. Open a project. On the Project form, select the Cost Plans or Benefit Plans related list. Select Manage. On the Financials tab, select the baseline information icon () and then select Compare Baselines.
   From the Baseline form	Navigate to All > Project > Projects > All. Open a project. On the Project form, select the Baseline related list. Open a baseline. On the Baseline form, select the View Financial Baseline related link.

2. On the Financial Baseline form, select the baselines you want to compare from the two choice lists.
   By default, the current and the most recent baselines are selected.
3. Select Compare.
   The comparative data of the baselines display in the following two sections:

   • The Financial Baseline Summary section displays four widgets: the first two widgets contain the financial data of the two baselines, the third widget contains their variance, and the fourth widget contains the actual costs to date of the project.
   • The Financial Baseline Details section displays the cost plans and benefit plans of the two baselines in two different grids. Each plan type has two rows corresponding to each baseline data.
     Note:

     Select the baseline legend icon () to see the color code of rows representing each baseline.
4. Optional: Review additional fields or reorganize the comparative data on the form.
   • To show or hide additional fields on the widgets in the Financial Baseline Summary section, select the configuration icon () and select the field names.

     The selected field preferences are saved and are available when you reopen the Financial Baseline form. To reset to the default widget layout, select Reset to defaults.

   • To view cost plan or benefit plan comparative data in yearly, quarterly, or monthly format, select the Year or Quarter or Month views respectively.
   • To toggle viewing the Financial Baseline Summary section, select the Collapse icon () or Expand icon ().