Show cost columns in Onplana Schedule

A plan saved by Microsoft Project carries each task’s cost. Four optional columns show it in the grid, with each summary row adding up the tasks under it, so you can see where the money sits and what is over budget.

Show the columns

1. Choose View > Columns and fields….

2. Under Cost, tick the columns you want: Fixed Cost, Cost, Baseline Cost and Cost Variance.

3. Close the dialog. The columns appear in the grid beside the Gantt and in the Task sheet.

All four are off until you turn them on.

What you see

• Fixed Cost, Cost and Baseline Cost show the values the file carries for each task, in the file’s currency.
• Cost Variance is Cost less Baseline Cost, as Microsoft Project works it out. A positive figure means the task now costs more than its baseline, and it shows in red. A task with only one of the two counts the other as 0.
• A summary row shows the sum of the tasks under it. A summary with no costed task under it stays blank rather than showing 0.
• The status line reads “Total cost” and the plan’s total while a cost column is showing.

Notes

• The columns are read from the file and cannot be changed here. An edit to dates or work does not work out a new cost, so each task keeps the cost its file gave it.
• An inactive task shows its own cost but is left out of the summary sums and the total, as Microsoft Project leaves it out.
• Microsoft Project adds a fixed cost typed on a summary row itself into that summary’s cost. Onplana Schedule adds up the tasks under the summary only, so a file with fixed costs on summary rows totals less here by those amounts.
• Baseline Cost comes from the baseline the file carries. To save one, see Set a baseline in Onplana Schedule.

Related

• Set a baseline in Onplana Schedule
• Find problems faster in Onplana Schedule (earned value from these costs)
• Open Microsoft Project files with Onplana Schedule