Feature Requests:
Estimated vs. Actuals report for each task

1. •  
     CommentAuthorMichael
   • CommentTimeNov 28th 2007 edited

    
   Today we received this feature request:
   
   

   Is there any report which provides an 'estimates vs actuals' where we can track actual head hours against the estimated hours for each task in a project? We are already entering the 'estimated hours' for a task and developers are clocking up time against the tasks so it would seem the data is there to do this. Ideas?

   
   
   Here was my follow-up response:
   The estimated hours on tasks presently do not total up anywhere. That is a very interesting idea. The project level estimate is meant to help control total scope for the project and the task estimate is meant to help the person know how many hours to work on something while also letting the owner of the task change course if the task starts tallying up too many hours. We will ponder this one some more...thanks for the suggestion.
   
   Would you use it? A new report maybe? Does it add additional complexity or a lot of value?
2. • CommentAuthorcrice
   • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007

    
   I would DEFINATELY use this. So much of Project Management is keeping track of what was estimated versus what has been used, and having that in a one click as opposed to having to view each task would be extremely helpful.
3. •  
     CommentAuthorpixolut
   • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007

    
   Amen...
4. • CommentAuthorlansen
   • CommentTimeJan 4th 2008

    
   This would be so useful. It would allow us to quickly pinpoint where exactly the budget is going. The worktypes and modules are to general. As a workaround we define worktypes to be able to track with more detail. This makes setting up a new project quite timeconsuming.
   
   This would add a lot more value for us!
5. •  
     CommentAuthorMichael
   • CommentTimeMay 14th 2008

    
   We are going to retrofit the Project Activity Report by Task to include the task level estimated hours. This one report will allow you to see each task estimate and the exact hours that have gone into each task.
   
   We are also kicking around the idea of adding an additional view to the Estimated vs. Actual page at the project level. It currently shows the estimated hours that have been entered for the project against all of the actual hours that have been logged. This new view would be similar, but would show the estimated hours summarized from all of the tasks that have been created for the project. For example:
   
   Estimated Hours from tasks: 80
   Budgeted estimated: 110
   Difference: 30
   
   Good idea? Would you use it?
6. •  
     CommentAuthorMichael
   • CommentTimeMay 30th 2008

    
   ## Update ##
   
   Last night we launched a new batch of updates including an update to the Project Activity Report. Now the Project Activity Report displays the estimated hours for each task (note: only if the "by Task" filter is selected when running the report). The top half of the report includes the summarized hours and the bottom half includes each time entry for each task and the estimate: