Percent Complete and Percent Work Complete
Microsoft Project uses Percent Complete and Percent Work Complete to track different aspects of task progress. Percent Complete measures how much of a task’s duration has been completed; Percent Work Complete measures how much of its planned work has been performed.
How the two percentages differ
Section titled “How the two percentages differ”Percent Complete is based on duration:
Actual Duration ÷ Duration × 100
Percent Work Complete is based on work:
Actual Work ÷ Work × 100
Because duration and work are different measures, the percentages may not match. Entering Percent Complete updates actual and remaining duration; entering Percent Work Complete updates actual and remaining work. Editing the related actual or remaining values can also recalculate the corresponding percentage. By default, changing Percent Complete can affect Actual Work, and changing Actual Work can affect Percent Complete. Project Options can make Percent Complete and Actual Work independent.
Separately, status-date settings control how Project distributes actual and remaining work when progress is entered. Depending on those settings, work may remain in its scheduled position or be adjusted around the status date.1
Where to enter task progress
Section titled “Where to enter task progress”- Quick duration update: In the Gantt Chart, select a task and choose Task > 25% Complete, 50% Complete, 75% Complete, or 100% Complete. These buttons set common percentage increments.
- Enter Percent Complete: Choose View > Other Views > Task Sheet, then View > Tables > Tracking and enter the value in % Comp.
- Enter Percent Work Complete: Open View > Other Views > Task Sheet, then choose View > Tables > Work and enter the value in % W. Comp. Use this when you are tracking how much of the task’s planned work has actually been performed, such as reported work hours. It measures completed work rather than elapsed task duration, so use it when work progress is the measure you need.
- Update Percent Complete directly in the Gantt Chart: Drag the thin progress indicator inside a task’s Gantt bar to the right to increase Percent Complete. Project Plan 365 also supports this method; its Percent Complete article covers the product’s field-based and Task Information options.
After updating either percentage, check the corresponding actual and remaining values to confirm Project reflects the progress as intended.