Control Account, Work Package, and Activity Field Descriptions

This topic lists the control account, work package, and activity field descriptions.

For information about the standard field descriptions, see Standard Field Descriptions.

For more information about fields and formulas, see Calculated Field Formulas and Descriptions.

For more information about source fields, see Control Account and Work Package Source Fields.

Field Name

Field Type

Description

Activity Description

Activity

This field displays the description of each project activity.

Activity ID

Activity

These fields display the IDs of the project activities. It uses the following format: <changeNumber>_7-digit random number.

Activity Logic Flag

Activity

This field displays the activity logic flag for an activity in a baseline. Valid values are: Start Activity, None, End Activity, Start and Finish Activity, and Isolated, which are stored in the database as S, null, F, SF, and I, respectively.

Activity Type

Activity

This is the activity type stored in a baseline for an activity. Valid values are:

  • ALAP (L)

  • ASAP (N)

  • Discontinuous (D)

  • Effort Driven (R)

  • External Subproject (E)

  • Finish Milestone (F)

  • Hammock (H)

  • Subproject (P)

  • Start Milestone (S)

The letters in parenthesis indicate how the values are stored in the database.

In multi-projects where not all external subprojects are opened, the types Foreign Project, Foreign Subproject, and Foreign Activity may be present, but these types are not stored in the database. If exported, the short forms for Foreign Project, Foreign Subproject, and Foreign Activity are Z, Y and G, respectively.

Actual

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the actual hours incurred for the completion of a given task or a group of tasks for the control account or work package.

Actual Finish

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the actual finish date for the control account or work package.

For more information, see Actual_Start/Finish.

Actual Finish

Activity

This field displays the actual finish date for the activity.

For more information, sse Actual_Start/Finish.

Actual Hours

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the actual hours incurred for the completion of a given task or a group of tasks for the control account or work package.

Actual Start

Activity

This field displays the actual start date for the activity.

For more information, see Actual_Start/Finish.

Actual Start

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the actual start date for the control account or work package.

For more information, see Actual_Start/Finish.

Alerts

 

There is a list of fields identified as Column in the dialog boxes when you build an alert (whether user-initiated or scheduled) and select a workflow or assignment. The UIDs are available for you when you select a column in Alerts, making the entire list of fields in the first column available.

Activity UID for Status

 

This field displays the activity ID for progress entries.

Baseline Finish

Activity

This field displays is the baseline finish date from the baseline selected in the Project Form View on the Schedule Integration tab.

Baseline Finish

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the baseline finish date for the control account or work package as specified in the cost system. You cannot modify this date.

Baseline Start

Activity

This field displays the baseline start date from the baseline selected in the Project Form View on the Schedule Integration tab.

Baseline Start

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the baseline start date for the control account or work package as specified in the cost system. You cannot modify this date.

Budget

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the budget until the completion of the control account or work package.

Budget Hours

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the budgeted hours until the completion of the control account or work package.

Budget to Date

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the cumulative-to-date budget.

Budget to Date Hours

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the number of budgeted hours to date.

Calendar ID

Activity

This field displays the unique identifier that links an activity record to a unique calendar record.

Code Fields

Control Account / Work Package

These field display the code fields that are defined on the User-Defined Data form.

For more information, see Codes Tab of the Enter Schedule Progress Form.

Computed Remaining Duration

Activity

This field displays the remaining portion of the original duration for an activity, calculated by time analysis. This field is based on progress information supplied by the user or calculated during progress calculations.

When Microsoft Project is the scheduling tool, and an MSP file is loaded into PM Compass, the value in this column will be zero because PM Compass doesn't run Time Analysis on the project.

Constraint Finish

Activity

This field displays is a manually entered date that constrains an activity. A constraint finish is the same thing as a target finish date.

Constraint Finish Type

Activity

This field indicates how the constraint finish is applied to the activity for the date calculations.

Constraint Start

Activity

This field displays is a manually entered date that constrains an activity. A constraint start is the same thing as a target start date.

Constraint Start Type

Activity

This field indicates how the constraint start is applied to the activity for the date calculations.

Control Account or CAWPID

 

This field displays all of the control account fields concatenated into one field. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Control Account Field 1

 

This field displays the value in the first control account field. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Control Account Field 2

 

This field displays the value in the second control account field. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Control Account Field 3

 

This field displays the value in the third control account field. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

CPI

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Cost Performance Indicator (CPI), an index showing the efficiency of the utilization of the resources on the project. It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

CPI Hours

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Cost Performance Indicator Hours (CPI Hours), an index showing the efficiency of the utilization of the resources on the project in terms of hours. It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

Created By

 

This field displays the user ID of the workflow creator. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Created Date

 

This field displays the date when the workflow was created. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Critical Flag

Activity

This field displays the critical flag for an activity, calculated by time analysis. Valid values are:

  • Not Critical (0)

  • Critical (1)

  • Most Critical (2)

  • Controlling Critical (3)

The numbers in parenthesis indicate how the values are stored in the Open Plan database.

CV

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Cost Variance which indicates how much over or under budget the project is. It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

CV %

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Cost Variance % which indicates how much over or under budget the project is in terms of percentage. It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

CV % hours

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Cost Variance % hours which indicates how much over or under budget the project is in terms of percentage and hours. It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

CV hours

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Cost Variance hours which indicates how much over or under budget the project is in terms of hours. It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

Dashboard Notify

 

This field indicates that the assignee received a notification through a dash alert.

Delaying Resource

Activity

This field displays the unique identifier of the resource that caused the activity to be delayed during resource scheduling.

Description

 

This field displays the long description displayed on a workflow, such as the Budget Change Request. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Description

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the description of each control account and work package.

Duration

Activity

This field displays the original duration for the activity.

Earliest Feasible Start

Activity

This field displays the earliest date on which the scheduling system was able to consider scheduling the activity. It might be the same as the early start date (it should never be earlier), or it might be later due to delays in previous activities.

Early Finish

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the earliest date that a control account or work package could possibly finish.

Early Start

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the earliest date that a control account or work package could possibly begin.

Earned

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Budgeted Costs for Work Performed, which is the sum of all budgets for completed work packages and completed portions of open work packages, plus the applicable portion of the budgets for level of effort and apportioned effort.

Earned Value Techniques

Activity

This field displays the Earned Value Technique (EVT) that is used to objectively measure performance.

Email Notify

 

This field indicates that the assignee received a notification through an email.

EVT

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the Earned Value Technique (EVT), which is used to objectively measure performance.

Expected Finish

Activity

This field displays the expected finish date for the activity at the date of the progress entry. Use this column to update the expected finish date. This field is not available in MSP and is therefore not exported back into the MSP project.

Finish Free Float

Activity

This field displays the finish free float calculated by time analysis for an activity.

Finish Total Float

Activity

This field displays the finish total float calculated by time analysis for an activity.

Forecast

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the forecast at complete is calculated by summing the currency results for the classes defined in the EAC cost set.

Forecast Finish

Activity

This field displays the date that represents the best estimate of when the work will end.

Forecast Finish

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the date that represents the best estimate of when the work will finish. You can modify the date if there is no date specified in Actual Finish field for the control account or work package.

For more information, see Forecast Start/Finish.

Forecast Hours

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the estimated hours needed to complete the control account or work package.

Forecast Start

Activity

This field displays the date that represents the best estimate of when the work will start.

Forecast Start

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the date that represents the best estimate of when the work will start.

For more information, see Forecast Start/Finish.

Free Float

Activity

This field displays the free float calculated by time analysis for an activity.

Hours Earned

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the time in standard hours credited as a result of the completion of a given task or a group of tasks for the control account or work package.

iEAC

Control Account / Work Package

iEAC is a statistical forecast used to project total cost using the performance to date to project overall performance. It can be compared to EAC, which is the manager's projection.

This column performs the calculation using the currency result.

iEAC hours

Control Account / Work Package

iEAC hours is a statistical forecast used to project total hours using the performance to date to project overall performance. It can be compared to EAC Hours, which is the manager's projection.

This column performs the calculation using the hours result.

Last Corrective Action

 

This field displays the workflow ID of the original Corrective Action from which PM Compass creates a Corrective Action by copying forward from the previous period’s Explanation of Variance.

Last Update

 

This field displays the date when the workflow was updated. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Last Updated By

 

This field displays the user ID of the last person to update the workflow. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Last Updated

Activity

This field displays the date of the last progress update.

Late Finish

Activity

This field displays the late finish date calculated by time analysis for an activity.

Late Finish

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the late finish date calculated by time analysis for a control account or work package.

Late Start

Activity

This field displays the the late start date calculated by time analysis for an activity.

Late Start

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the late start date calculated by time analysis for a control account or work package.

Linked Workflow UID

 

This field refers to a workflow that is related to the current workflow.

Manager

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the control account manager (CAM) for the control account or work package.

My Action Required

 

"My" fields are calculated fields that aid in the management of records from the Workflow List View. These fields display values only when the logged-on user is assigned to the current step in the workflow.

This field indicates the positive workflow action for the current step.  This is useful when you select multiple records in the Workflow List View and you click Workflow Actions » Do Required Action to approve many records at one time. This field displays a value only when you have a current assignment.

This field is available in the Workflow List View.

My Due Date

 

"My" fields are calculated fields that aid in the management of records from the Workflow List View. These fields display values only when the logged-on user is assigned to the current step in the workflow.

This refers to the assignment due date. It is useful for sorting records in the Workflow List View based on urgency for your assignments.

This field is available in the Workflow List View.

My Workflow Status

 

"My" fields are calculated fields that aid in the management of records from the Workflow List View. These fields display values only when the logged-on user is assigned to the current step in the workflow.

The workflow status relates to the workflow while My Workflow status relates to the condition of your particular assignment.  This field is helpful when a step has many assignees. It indicates the status that you have provided for the step.  

My workflow status is always the same as the workflow status except when  the following condition occurs:

  • The step has more than one assignee.

  • All of the assignees must complete the step.

  • You have performed the action required but the other assignees have not.

In this case, this field displays the specific action you have performed, which can, for example, be either Approved or Completed.

This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Note

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays link to the note on the Notes tab of the Cost Analysis form.

Notification Alert Type

 

This field displays the alert type.

Original Due Date

 

This field displays the due date of the workflow at the time the workflow steps started.

Out-of-Sequence

Activity

This field displays the flag on the activity record indicating if the activity has been progressed out of sequence.

Percent Complete

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the current status of the work, expressed as the percentage of the duration that has been completed.

Period Status Date

 

This field displays the project status date when the workflow was created. Use this field in Explanation of Variance types.

Physical % Complete

Activity

This field displays the estimate percentage of the amount of work that has been completed.

When you enter progress at the resource level, PM Compass calculates the progress at the activity level and displays it in the Physical % Complete (PPC) column of the Enter Schedule Progress form grid.

If you enter an activity PPC, the same PPC is copied to all resource assignments. If you then change the resource assignment PPC, the activity PPC is updated using the following formula:

Activity PPC = (Resource Qty x (PPC per resource assignment)) / Total Resource Qty on the activity.

Example

Resource Assignment

Budgeted Cost

Physical % Complete

Resource Assignment 1

5000

25

Resource Assignment 2

1000

75

Activity PPC = (5000 * 0.25) + (1000 * 0.75) = (1250 + 750) / 6000 = 33.3%

To calculate the Budgeted Cost, the quantity is multiplied by the Unit rate in the Open Plan resource file but the rate escalation is not used.

If the resource is defined as a rate per day, the total quantity is calculated by multiplying the rate per day by the duration (using the same units) and then converting the total quantity units to match the units in the rate.

For more information, see Percent Complete and Physical % Complete.

Priority

Activity

This field displays the activity priority used in schedule analysis.

Progress Type

Activity

This field displays the type of progress being tracked for the selected activity. The value in this column determines how the Progress Value column is used.

For more information about this column, see Progress Value.

Progress Value

Activity

This field displays the amount of work done based on the option in the Progress Type column.

For more information about this column, see Progress Value.

Schedule Finish

Activity

This field displays the finish date calculated by resource scheduling.

Select Fields Dialog Box

 

This dialog box displays when you edit the content of an email, dashboard alert, or field where there is a Select/Insert Field button. The UIDs are available for you when you select a table and column on this dialog box. The entire list of fields that display in the first column is available from this dialog box when you select the Workflow table.  

You cannot access this from the Workflow List View.

SPI

Control Account / Work Package

Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is the ratio of work accomplished versus work planned, for a specified time period. The SPI is an efficiency rating for work accomplishment, comparing work accomplished to what should have been accomplished.

It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

SPI hours

Control Account / Work Package

Schedule Performance Indicator Hours (SPI Hours) is an index showing the efficiency of the time utilized on the project in terms of hours.

Start percent complete

Activity

This field displays the opening percent complete when the EVT is user-defined .

Start No Earlier Than

Activity

The Start no Earlier Than date is typically used to stagger/delay activities to level the resource requirements. For example, if there are 50 activities in the schedule that could start when the project starts, the company may not want to hire extra people to do the work on the first day when there is float in the project schedule. They use the Start No Earlier Than target type to move some of the activities out to level (reduce the peaks and valleys) the resource requirements. This exercise is typically done by the CAM because they are responsible for the resources working on the tasks in their control accounts.

This field is available on the General Tab of the Enter Schedule Progress form and the Progress History report.

Status

Control Account / Work Package

This field indicates if the control account or work package has yet to start (planned), is in progress, or is complete.

Status Change Date

 

This field displays the date when the progress was changed.

Schedule Project

Activity

This field displays the schedule project to which the activity belongs.

Schedule Start

Activity

This field displays the start date calculated by resource scheduling.

Status

Activity

This field indicates if the activity has yet to start (planned), is in progress, or is complete.

Step

 

This field displays the current workflow step. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Step Start Date

 

This field displays the day when the current step started. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Summary Link

 

This field displays the workflow ID where a dash link will go.

Suspended

 

 If selected, this checkbox indicates that the workflow has been suspended. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

SV

Control Account / Work Package

Schedule Variance (SV) is the difference between the budgeted cost of work performed and the budgeted cost of work scheduled at any point in time  for the control account or work package. It uses color codes to indicate whether it is progressing as planned or not.

For more information, see Thresholds.

SV %

Control Account / Work Package

Schedule Variance % indicates how much ahead or behind schedule the project is in terms of percentage.

SV % hours

Control Account / Work Package

Schedule Variance % Hours indicates how much ahead or behind schedule the project is in terms of percentage.

SV hours

Control Account / Work Package

Schedule Variance Hours indicates how much ahead or behind schedule the project is in terms of hours.

TCPI bac

Control Account / Work Package

The To Complete Performance Indicator (TCPI) is an index showing the efficiency at which the resources on the project should be utilized for the remainder of the project.

TCPI bac is an indicator of the validity of the BAC. If TCPI bac is very different from CPI, there should be an explanation for how the performance is going to improve for the remaining work to complete the work within budget.

TCPI bac hours

Control Account / Work Package

The To Complete Performance Indicator (TCPI) is an index showing the efficiency at which the resources on the project should be utilized for the remainder of the project.  This column performs the calculation in hours.

TCPI bac Hours is an indicator of the validity of the BAC hours. If TCPI bac hours is very different from CPI hours, there should be an explanation for how the performance is going to improve for the remaining work to complete the work within budgeted hours.

TCPI eac

Control Account / Work Package

The To Complete Performance Indicator (TCPI) is an index showing the efficiency at which the resources on the project should be utilized for the remainder of the project.

TCPI eac is an indicator of the validity of the EAC.  If TCPI eac is very different from CPI, there should be an explanation for how the performance is going to improve for the remaining work to achieve the reported EAC.

TCPI eac hours

Control Account / Work Package

TCPI eac hours is an indicator of the validity of the EAC measured in hours. If TCPI eac is very different from CPI, there should be an explanation for how the performance is going to improve for the remaining work to achieve the reported EAC.

Total Float

Activity

This field display the total float calculated by time analysis for an activity.

Code Fields

Activity

These fields display the code fields that were defined on the User-Defined Data form.

For more information, see Codes Tab of the Enter Schedule Progress Form.

Units Complete

Control Account / Work Package

Sometimes referred to as the “discrete” method, this EVT is applicable to any work package that comprises a predefined number of similar tasks. The value earned at any point in time is simply the work package budget multiplied by the number of these tasks completed and divided by the total number to be done. Use of this EVT assumes that budgets are based on the units being measured.

Units To Do

Control Account / Work Package

When EVT is set to Units To Do, this field displays the total number of units to do.

User Fields

Activity

These field s display the user fields that were defined on the User-Defined Data form.

For more information, see User Fields Tab of the Enter Schedule Progress Form.

User Fields

Control Account / Work Package

These fields display the user fields that are defined on the User-Defined Data form.

For more information, see User Fields Tab of the Enter Schedule Progress Form.

Update Baseline Dates

Activity

 

This field displays the value populated in the PMC Update Baseline Dates field of the Open Plan activity when a change is made at the activity–level during a modeling session.

VAC

Control Account / Work Package

The Variance at Completion indicates how much over or under budget the project is estimated to cost at completion.

VAC %

Control Account / Work Package

The Variance at Completion Percentage indicates how much over or under budget the project is estimated to cost at completion, measured in percentage.

VAC % hours

Control Account / Work Package

The Variance at Completion Percentage Hours indicates how much over or under budget the project is estimated to cost at completion, measured in percentage and hours.

VAC hours

Control Account / Work Package

The Variance at Completion Hours indicates how much over or under budget the project is estimated to cost at completion, measured in hours.

Variance

Control Account / Work Package

Variance is used to see the difference between what was budgeted and the actual costs.

Variance Hours

Control Account / Work Package

The Variance Hours is used to see the difference between the budgeted hours and the actual hours.

WBS

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the work breakdown structure (WBS) code of the control account or work package.

Work package UID

 

This field displays the unique identifier for the work package. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Workflow Status

 

This field displays the in-progress step status for the current step of the workflow. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

Workflow Type

 

This field displays the name of the workflow type. This field is available in the Workflow List View.

WP

Control Account / Work Package

This field displays the work package ID.


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