Smartsheet's Error in % Complete Rollup
Hi,
I recently realized that Smartsheet has a major flaw in rolling up % Completion.
In Smartsheet %complete for a Parent is calculated as a weighted average of %completion of the immediate children times the duration of the Parent. For example in the following Project, the overall % complete shows 50% where the correct % complete is 10%: Completed work (1 day) divided by total work (10 days) equals 10%.
In other words, task1 is overweighed and all subtasks under task 2 are underweighted.
I have escalated this to smartsheets and would like to share with the community as this could have serious impact if you are managing a complex project.
Cheers,
Mahmood
Comments
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Hello Mahmood,
your project has two tasks. Each of the task lasts for 1 day, so if one task is done you have 50% of your work done.
If the subtasks would not all take place on the same day but one after another - shown in "Project 2" - task 2 runs for the sum of the tasks and then the calculation shows a reduced value, as you expected.
Best
Dietrich
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In that case samrtsheet calculates "%duration completed" instead of "%work completed". In my example I wouldn't consider the project 50% done in the beginning of second day.
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Thats how Smartsheet works. Here's what the Smartsheet Help says to %Complete:
"... In parent (summary) rows, the % Complete is calculated automatically by Smartsheet based on both the Duration and % Complete values you've manually entered into the child rows."
Best
Dietrich
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