Details About Hours

SuiteProjects Pro Planned Hours VS. Microsoft Project Work Hours

There are differences in the way SuiteProjects Pro handles Planned hours versus the way Microsoft Project handles Work hours. The way your SuiteProjects Pro account is configured is also a factor since internal switches determine how SuiteProjects Pro handles Planned hours. Review the following descriptions.

Microsoft Project Work Hours

In Microsoft Project, work is a dynamic field that is made up of three more granular fields: actual work, remaining work, and overtime work. A user can edit the work field, changing the amount of work needed to complete a task. When a value is entered in the work field, Microsoft Project automatically divides that work between the assigned resources based on the assignment units. If a user changes any of the fields for actual work, remaining work, or overtime work, the work field is automatically adjusted. Refer to the following examples of a project plan.

Example 1: Project plan before changes are made. No actual work hours have been entered.

Example 2: Project plan after entering 10 hours of actual work for Bill Carr. Notice that while Microsoft Project moves the hours from remaining work to actual work, the number of work hours remains the same.

Example 3: Project plan after entering 40 hours of actual work for Bill Carr, which is 15 hours more than the original number of work hours. Microsoft Project adjusts the total work for the task, and changes the finish date and duration.

SuiteProjects Pro Planned Hours

Unlike work hours in Microsoft Project, SuiteProjects Pro planned hours are not dynamic. They do not change automatically because another field has changed. In the previous example, if actual work exceeds work hours, Microsoft Project adjusts the work field. SuiteProjects Pro does not change the plan if worked hours exceed planned hours. Planned hours in SuiteProjects Pro act as budget hours for the task. The number of hours logged against the task has no affect on the number of planned hours. While SuiteProjects Pro gap hours are related to planned hours, the planned hour field is not comprised of other fields as it is in Microsoft Project.

SuiteProjects Pro can behave like Microsoft Project in one respect if the following internal setting is enabled: Input planned hours for each user assigned to the task. This setting determines how SuiteProjects Pro distributes planned hours:

• If the setting is enabled, you can distribute planned hours among assigned resources, a level of control similar to that available in the Microsoft Project resource usage view.

• If the setting is not enabled, planned hours are automatically distributed among the assigned resources based upon the percentage of time for which the resources are assigned.

SuiteProjects Pro Worked Hours VS. Microsoft Project Actual Hours

In Microsoft Project, you can enter hours in the actual work field or let them be calculated automatically when percent complete or percent work complete is entered. Microsoft Project then distributes the actual work automatically to the resources assigned to the task.

In SuiteProjects Pro, worked hours are hours that users have logged against the task on a timesheet. This is a more precise figure since users have logged the hours they worked against the task.

Although worked hours can drive percent complete in SuiteProjects Pro, and they generally do, percent complete never determines the number of hours worked since these hours are sourced directly from user timesheets.

SuiteProjects Pro Gap Hours VS. Microsoft Project Remaining Work

Gap hours and remaining work hours are nearly identical in Microsoft Project and SuiteProjects Pro. In Microsoft Project, remaining work equals work minus actual work. In SuiteProjects Pro, gap hours are planned hours minus worked hours.

However, there is one significant difference. You cannot edit gap hours in SuiteProjects Pro, but you can edit remaining work in Microsoft Project. Remember, the work field in Microsoft Project is comprised of three fields, including remaining work, and they can all be edited.

Microsoft Project Overtime Work

SuiteProjects Pro does not have a field for overtime work, and Microsoft Project does. It is one of the three fields that contribute to the work field value.

In SuiteProjects Pro, you can easily create a calculated field for overtime work and generate the data using SuiteProjects Pro Report functionality.

SuiteProjects Pro Estimated Hours

SuiteProjects Pro has a field for estimated hours, and Microsoft Project does not. Estimated hours are approved hours from timesheets plus hours remaining that are entered by the user in the Timesheets module. This information is not transferred using Project Connector.

In SuiteProjects Pro, you can easily generate data for estimated hours using SuiteProjects Pro Report functionality.

SuiteProjects Pro Remaining Hours

SuiteProjects Pro has a field for remaining hours, and Microsoft Project does not. Remaining hours are generally estimated hours minus worked hours. Although, if a user who has worked hours is removed from a task, the remaining hours might not equal estimated hours minus worked hours. This information is not transferred using Project Connector.

In SuiteProjects Pro, you can easily generate data for remaining hours using SuiteProjects Pro Report functionality.

SuiteProjects Pro Billed Hours

SuiteProjects Pro has a field for billed hours, and Microsoft Project does not. Billed hours are hours from charges (time bills) in the Invoices module and include hours from all charges (time bills), whether they are open or invoiced. This information is not transferred using Project Connector.

In SuiteProjects Pro, you can easily generate data for billed hours using SuiteProjects Pro Report functionality.