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To track progress in Microsoft Project, save a baseline, update tasks using information your team actually records, set a status date for each reporting period, and compare the current schedule with the baseline. In Project desktop, the Tracking Gantt view and Variance table make schedule slippage easy to see; earned value adds cost and schedule performance measures when you need them.
What you need before tracking progress
Start with a reviewed schedule and save a baseline. A baseline preserves reference dates, durations, work, and cost values so you can compare the plan with the schedule as it changes. Without one, Project cannot show the intended comparison between the original plan and current progress.
Microsoft says a Project file can hold up to 11 baselines, including the original. Treat a new baseline as a deliberate reference for a substantial, agreed change—not as a way to make routine variance disappear. Baselines can represent contractual obligations. See Microsoft’s baseline guidance for Project desktop.
Choose how your team will report task progress
Project offers several progress fields. Choose the one that matches the evidence your team collects, and apply it consistently; a percentage of duration, a percentage of work, and the value of a completed deliverable are not interchangeable.
#1 Best Overall
| Method | Best suited to | What Project calculates or shows | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent complete | Duration-based status | Actual duration and remaining duration are calculated from task duration and percent complete. | It measures duration progress, not necessarily effort spent or deliverable value. |
| Percent work complete | Effort or work-hour status | Actual work and remaining work are calculated from planned work and the reported percentage. | Use a consistent basis for reporting effort. |
| Actual work, dates, or duration | Teams that capture time worked or know actual milestones | You can enter actuals directly; Project may recalculate related actual, remaining, or scheduled values. | Enter what happened, since an actual date can change the corresponding scheduled date. |
| Earned value | Projects that need cost and schedule performance measures | Compares planned value, earned value, and actual cost at a reporting point. | It depends on a meaningful baseline and a clearly chosen status date. |
For field details and update behavior, consult Microsoft’s Update work on a project, Actual Start fields, and Actual Work fields references.
Set a baseline and record progress
- Save the baseline after refining the plan. In Project desktop, use the baseline command on the Project tab and save the baseline for the project. The baseline captures the reference plan you want to monitor.
- Choose an update method. Use percent complete for duration-oriented reporting, percent work complete for effort-based reporting, or enter actual work, dates, or duration when those are tracked directly. Microsoft documents the Update Tasks dialog for actual start and finish dates; the Work table includes the percent work complete field.
- Enter actuals from the reporting period. A recorded actual start or finish can change the corresponding scheduled date, but it does not change the baseline date. If you enter an actual finish, Project marks the task 100% complete. In ordinary use, summary-task completion is calculated from its subtasks.
- Check calculated dates and remaining work. Project can derive actual and remaining values from percentage entries. Depending on settings, marking a task complete can assign an actual finish based on the status date or scheduled finish; you can enter the actual finish date directly when it is known.
For the exact field and dialog behavior supported by your edition, see Microsoft’s task work update instructions.
Set a status date for the reporting period
Set the status date to the cut-off through which you are reporting progress. In Project desktop, find the status-date setting on the Project tab, in the Project Information dialog. Use the same reporting cut-off when comparing updates from period to period, and make it clear to readers of the status report.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe status date affects where Project places some actual and remaining work and is used in certain earned value calculations. By default, Project may move completed work to end at the status date and place remaining work after it; advanced calculation settings can affect this behavior. Work entered by time period is an exception to these settings. Read Microsoft’s status date instructions before changing how work is scheduled.
Compare the current schedule with the baseline
For a direct schedule check in Project desktop, switch to the Tracking Gantt view and choose the Variance table. The lower bar shows baseline start and finish; the upper bar shows current scheduled dates. Compare baseline start and finish with the current schedule to see where dates have moved. Actual dates and variance fields help explain what has already happened versus what is now planned.
Changing a scheduled date by entering an actual date does not rewrite the baseline. That distinction lets you retain the original reference and report the change rather than silently resetting the plan. Microsoft’s schedule review guidance covers reviewing schedule progress.
Use earned value when you also need performance against budget
Earned value is useful when the question is not only “Are we late?” but also “How much planned work have we completed, and what did it cost?” Project’s principal measures are:
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →- Planned value (PV/BCWS): the budgeted value of work scheduled by the reporting point.
- Earned value (EV/BCWP): the budgeted value of work actually completed.
- Actual cost (AC/ACWP): the cost incurred for the work performed.
Compare EV with PV to assess schedule performance in earned-value terms, and EV with AC to assess cost performance. These measures rely on a useful baseline and the applicable status date; they do not replace checking task dates and remaining work. Microsoft explains the BCWP (Earned Value or EV) fields and gives a plain-language overview in Earned value analysis, for the rest of us.
Best Value
Keep updates consistent and act on variance
Review the schedule regularly; Microsoft recommends reviewing schedule progress at least weekly. Use the same status date convention and progress method from one update to the next so changes are meaningful. When the schedule begins to diverge from expectations, investigate the affected tasks and remaining work, then decide whether the plan needs corrective action or an agreed new baseline. Microsoft’s Project management goal: Track progress provides its broader progress-tracking recommendations.
These paths and labels apply to Project desktop guidance. Microsoft lists the relevant field documentation for Project Online Desktop Client and desktop Standard/Professional editions including 2016, 2019, and 2021, and Project Standard 2024; labels can vary by edition and update. They should not be assumed to match every web-based Project interface. Microsoft’s available fields reference can help identify fields in the edition you use.
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