Hi,

my last Blog post is here: https://ntrajkovski.com/2015/09/22/baseline-and-deleted-tasks-in-ms-project-2013/

But, I have a question about that. That question is: “Hi Nenad, do all versions of project have the deactivate function? If not, is there a workaround? “

The answer is, older versions do not have this feature, and Yes, I know the workaround. Let me show that workaround in MS PROJECT 2013!

First, I will create very Simple Project:

and some Resources:

which I will assign to Tasks:

OK! I will save the Baseline now:

and:

Now I will choose the Cost Table:

As you can see Total Cost is equal to Baseline Cost, because there is no difference between Planned (Baseline), and Actual Costs!

Let’s say that I do not need Task 2, any more, and I have to create new Schedule like this:

As you can see I have deleted Task 2! Let’s look at the Cost Table:

As you can see, Total Cost is $3.200 (Task 1 = 1 day e.g. 8 hours * $100 = $ 800, and Task 3 = 3 days e.g. 24 hours * $100 = $2.400! 800 + 2.400 = $3.200). But Baseline cost is $4.800 (Task 1 = 1 day e.g. 8 hours * $100 = $ 800, Task 2 was = 2 days e.g. 16 hours * $100 = $1.600, and Task 3 = 3 days e.g. 24 hours * $100 = $2.400! 800 + 1.600 + 2.400 = $4.800). Variance is, logically, –$1.600.

That is easy to explain whit such a simple example when only one Task was deleted, and only one Resource was suppose to work on that Task. But, what if you delete, for example, 34 Tasks, with a lot of Resources assigned to them with different pay rate? Yes, you can save the new Baseline, but what if you want to keep track of those deleted Tasks? In that case you will find yourself lost! But, there is much better solution. Inactive Tasks button.

Let’s see my previous example:

I will create new Schedule like this:

and I will not deactivate Task 2, but I will put 0 in a duration field, and mark it as a 100% completed:

Let’s look at the Cost Table, again:

Now, everyone can see where the differences are coming from. I will suggest to put the note in the Task 2:

and you will get:

To conclude again, when you create Baseline, do not delete Tasks after that. Make them Inactive instead, or if you are working on older Versions of MS PROJECT, put zero in Duration field, and mark it as Completed!

Regards!