Duration Variance Miscalculating

Question

In one of my projects, it seems that the built-in Duration Variance column doesn't seem to be calculating correctly for any of my tasks.

As an example, one of my tasks duration is 20 days, and its baseline duration is 20 days, but my Duration Variance is showing as also 20 days. In my other files, it calculates to 0, because the duration hasn't changed from its baseline.

Does anyone know what might be causing this and how I could fix it?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I went ahead and just got everything into a blank file, it seems to be working so far. I think the macro would have helped too, so I really appreciate the offer, but I think this will work.

Hopefully never run into this weird issue again :( Sometimes I get the strangest glitches

Answer 2

Widge_H,

I see your tasks all have task calendars. What is the task calendar? What is the Project Calendar? And just for fun, what is the Start Variance and what is the Finish Variance?

Try this. Save your file as XML. Then re-open the XML file in Project. Note, you will lose any custom formatting. Does the duration variance now show expected values?

John

Answer 3

Thanks Tina and Dale for your help,

I tried your suggestions and it seems that the Duration Variance formula is still miscalculating (example below). I made sure all the tasks were automatic, no splits, cleared any deadlines, and reset the baseline on the whole project. To test, I went in and changed the duration on a few tasks, and as you can see below, it seems it's still not working.

Oddly enough... it's miscalculating differently on different tasks. For example, on "R&I", it's always 3 days less than the duration. For "Checkout" and "Swap", it replicates the duration exactly. And for "Deploy Test" it's always 5 days less than duration. Very bizarre. This isn't happening on any of my other Project files.

Any additional ideas are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Answer 4

Widge_H --

I cannot imagine what is going on with the project in question. Is the Duration Variance miscalculating for all tasks or only one task? How about sharing a screenshot so we can see what is going on? It might help us to be able to troubleshoot and resolve your problem.

Answer 5

Dear Widge_H,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you.

One possible reason for the Duration Variance column to show an incorrect value could be that the task has been split or has a deadline. Another reason could be that the task has been manually scheduled, which means that the duration variance will not be calculated automatically.

You may try the following steps:

1. Check if the task has been split or has a deadline. If so, remove the split or deadline and see if the Duration Variance column updates correctly.
2. Check if the task has been manually scheduled. If so, switch it to automatic scheduling by right-clicking on the task and selecting "Auto Schedule". This should recalculate the Duration Variance column.

If neither of these steps work, you can try resetting the baseline for the task by going to the "Task" tab, selecting "Set Baseline", and choosing "Entire Project". This will reset the baseline for all tasks in the project, so make sure to save a backup of your project before doing this.

I hope this helps!

At the same time, I will also keep this thread open. Welcome community members and MVPs who have similar experience to share insights and suggestions here.

Thanks for your time and cooperation! We hope you have a nice day! Stay safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Tina | Microsoft Community Moderator