If your Primavera P6 schedule executes according to plan then apply actuals may be quick way for you to update the schedule.
The apply actuals feature applies actuals entered in the Primavera timesheet system. If the timesheet system is not active, then the apply actuals feature statuses activities with resources as if they proceeded according to plan. If all goes well then apply actuals is the fastest way to update the schedule with progress.
This article demonstrates a quick tip to apply actuals to a schedule when everything goes according to plan.
Disclaimer: while we are about to show you a useful feature of P6 Professional, its use in practical terms is not necessarily recommended. Use of any automatic status tool should be extremely judicious and progress reporting should always be based in provable reality. With that said however…
Our demonstration project is displayed in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Note, in particular, the auto compute actuals column. This column lists the auto compute actuals status of activities. When the activity auto compute actuals is not checked then only activities with resources that are assigned auto compute actuals will have their dates updated. In Figure 1 the activity auto compute actuals for mobilize is not checked, but this activity has resources assigned auto compute actuals. The mobilize activity therefore updates when the apply actuals feature is implemented. In Figure 2 we observe Grade Site, which also has an unchecked activity auto compute actual.
Figure 2
Note further that there are not any assigned resources on Grade Site, so this activity will not update.
Let’s proceed and apply actuals, Figure 3.
Figure 3
The update period closes out at the end of January, Figure 4.
Figure 4
If Figure 5 we see the results of our apply actuals. Mobilize completed, while Grade Site showed no progress.
Figure 5
Set foundation progressed as planned. It is also interesting to note that Install Fence did not push out due to Grade Site delays; Grade Site and Install Fence have a Finish to Start (FS) relationship connecting them. Install Fence is still scheduled according to the baseline plan.
We proceed and update through the middle of February, Figure 6.
Figure 6
The updates through the middle of February are displayed in Figure 7.
Figure 7
Note that Install Fence delayed only as much as the data date. In Figure 8 we check the activity auto compute actuals for both Grade Site and Install Fence.
Figure 8
We then apply actuals through the end of February, Figure 9.
Figure 9
The resulting schedule updates are in Figure 10.
Figure 10
This time both Grade Site and Install Fence do not push out, but they progress and actually complete.
The lesson learned from this demonstration is that if you want to progress the schedule exactly according to plan make sure to check both the activity auto compute actuals and the resource auto complete actuals. Activities, regardless of logic, stay fixed on their baseline dates until pushed by the data date. When their setting is then changed to activity auto compute actuals they will progress from the current point forward.
Let’s redo our demonstration. This time we check all activity auto compute actuals, Figure 11.
Figure 11
Update the schedule 2 months through the end of February, Figure 12.
Figure 12
Apply actuals and note our results, Figure 13.
Figure 13
As expected, everything went according to plan on our project.
Summary
Apply actuals to update the P6 schedule, as per the time module. If you are not using the time module, then apply actuals is a quick way to progress the schedule when all goes according to plan. If activity auto compute actuals and resource auto compute actuals are not set then the respective activity will push forward by the data date.
It, again, is interesting to note that activities stay fixed on their baseline dates despite network logic until the data date pushes them forward.
Another way to progress Primavera P6 schedules according to plan is with the update progress feature. This feature updates all highlighted activities. Again we don’t necessarily recommend the use of automatic status tools. There’s a very real risk that you may mask an important negative factor that should be showing as a variance.