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Compare Two Schedule Periods

Schedule comparison results — six summary cards and categorized change typesSchedule comparison results — six summary cards and categorized change types

Time: ~12 minutes Level: Intermediate Applies to: Free · Pro · Enterprise

What You Will Learn​

By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

  • Run a comparison between baseline and current schedules
  • Read the Change Summary dashboard
  • Drill into modified activities to see field-level changes
  • View changes rolled up by WBS level
  • View changes by activity code
  • Understand comparison badges (Added, Deleted, Modified)

Prerequisites​

Step 1 — Open the Comparison Tab​

Navigate to the comparison view.

  1. Open your Current schedule from the Projects tab.
  2. Click the Comparison tab in the main navigation.
  3. If a comparison has already been run, results appear immediately. Otherwise, continue to Step 2.

What you should see: The Comparison tab either shows existing results or a prompt to run a new comparison.

Step 2 — Run the Comparison​

Trigger the comparison engine to analyse the two schedules.

  1. If results are not already displayed, click Run Comparison.
  2. The system compares the current schedule against the marked baseline.
  3. Wait for the progress bar to complete.

What you should see: A loading overlay while the engine processes. Once complete, the Change Summary dashboard appears.

Step 3 — Review the Change Summary​

The dashboard gives you a high-level picture of all changes.

  1. Read the Total Changes card — this shows the aggregate count of all added, deleted, and modified activities.
  2. Read the Cost Delta card — the net change in total cost between baseline and current.
  3. Read the Labour card — the change in labour resource hours.
  4. Read the Material card — the change in material quantities.
  5. Read the Non-Labour card — the change in non-labour resources.

What you should see: Five summary cards, each displaying a count or monetary/unit value. Positive deltas appear in green; negative deltas appear in red.

Step 4 — Drill Into Modified Activities​

See exactly which fields changed for each modified activity.

  1. Click the Modified count on the summary card (or switch to the Activity-level view).
  2. A table lists all modified activities with their Activity IDs and names.
  3. Click on any activity row to expand it.
  4. The expanded view shows field-level changes: each changed field displays the old value and the new value side by side.

What you should see: For example, an activity might show "Original Duration: 10d → 15d" and "Early Finish: 15-Aug → 22-Aug". Each changed value is highlighted.

Step 5 — Review Added and Deleted Activities​

Check which activities are new or removed.

  1. Click the Added count on the summary card.
  2. A list shows activities that exist in the current schedule but not in the baseline.
  3. Click the Deleted count.
  4. A list shows activities that existed in the baseline but are missing from the current schedule.

What you should see: Separate lists for added and deleted activities. Added rows appear with green badges; deleted rows appear with red badges.

Step 6 — View WBS Rollup​

See changes aggregated by WBS level for a structural overview.

  1. Switch to the WBS Rollup view using the tab or toggle at the top of the comparison grid.
  2. Each WBS node shows the count of changes within it.
  3. Expand a WBS node to see child nodes and their change counts.
  4. Drill down to the leaf level to see individual activities.

What you should see: A hierarchical tree where each WBS node displays an aggregate count of added, deleted, and modified activities beneath it.

Step 7 — View Activity Code Comparison​

See changes grouped by activity code type.

  1. Switch to the Activity Code view.
  2. Select an activity code type (for example, "Phase") from the dropdown.
  3. Changes are grouped by code value (for example, "Design", "Construction", "Commissioning").

What you should see: Each activity code value shows the count of changes. This helps you understand which project phases had the most movement.

Step 8 — Understand Comparison Badges​

Badges provide at-a-glance status for each activity.

  1. Notice the coloured badges on each row:
    • Green — Added (new activity in the current schedule)
    • Red — Deleted (activity removed since the baseline)
    • Amber — Modified (activity exists in both but has changed)
  2. Badges appear in all comparison views: activity list, WBS rollup, and activity code views.

What you should see: A consistent colour scheme across all views that lets you scan quickly for the type and severity of changes.

Step 9 — Get an AI Narrative Summary (Optional)​

Use the AI Copilot to generate a written summary of the changes.

  1. Open the AI Copilot panel (Ctrl+Shift+I).
  2. Type: "What changed from baseline?"
  3. The Copilot runs the comparison and generates a natural language summary.
  4. Review the narrative for key findings: largest delays, added scope, deleted activities.

What you should see: A professional narrative paragraph describing the most significant changes between the baseline and current schedules.

Step 10 — Verify Your Work​

Confirm you can navigate all comparison views.

  1. The Change Summary dashboard shows accurate counts.
  2. Modified activities expand to show field-level old → new values.
  3. The WBS Rollup aggregates changes correctly.
  4. The Activity Code view groups changes by code type.
  5. Badges appear consistently across all views.

What you should see: A comprehensive understanding of what changed between two schedule periods, viewable at summary, activity, WBS, and activity code levels.

What's Next?​

Troubleshooting​

IssueSolution
Run Comparison button is disabledEnsure both a Baseline and Current schedule are marked in the Projects tab.
Comparison shows zero changesThe two schedules may be identical. Verify you uploaded different schedule periods.
WBS Rollup tree is emptyThe WBS structures must be compatible. If one schedule has a completely different WBS, the rollup may not match.
Activity Code view shows no dataEnsure the schedules contain activity codes. If codes were not included in the import, this view will be empty.
Field-level changes not expandingClick directly on the activity row or the expand icon. Some browsers may require a double-click.