Skip to main content

AI Copilot — Baseline Variance Analysis

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:

  • Ask the AI to compare the current schedule against the baseline
  • View a variance summary showing all changed activities
  • Query all percentage types (labour, non-labour, cost, schedule, performance)
  • Add variance columns to the grid through the Copilot
  • Filter the grid to significantly slipped activities
  • Export a professional comparison report as DOCX

Prerequisites​

Step 1 — Ask About Baseline Changes​

Let the AI compare both schedules and summarise the differences.

  1. Open the AI Copilot panel (Ctrl+Shift+I).
  2. Type: "What changed from baseline?"
  3. Press Enter.
  4. The Copilot calls the comparison engine and returns a variance summary.

What you should see: A summary showing the count of added, deleted, and modified activities. Key metrics include: total schedule drift (days), cost variance, and the most significantly changed activities.

Step 2 — View Slipped Activities​

Drill into activities that have moved from their baseline dates.

  1. Type: "Show me activities that slipped from baseline"
  2. Press Enter.
  3. The Copilot returns a table of delayed activities.

What you should see: A table listing activities where the current dates are later than the baseline dates. Columns include Activity Name, Baseline Start, Current Start, Start Variance (days), Baseline Finish, Current Finish, and Finish Variance (days).

Step 3 — Query All Percentage Types​

Understand the comprehensive set of progress metrics.

  1. Type: "What's the completion percentage?"
  2. Press Enter.
  3. The Copilot returns all percentage types with current and baseline values.

What you should see: A response showing multiple percentage types:

  • Schedule Percent Complete — based on duration
  • Performance Percent Complete — based on physical progress
  • Labour Units Percent Complete — based on labour hours consumed
  • Non-Labour Units Percent Complete — based on non-labour hours consumed
  • Cost Percent Complete — based on cost spent vs budgeted

Each shows the current value and the baseline value for comparison.

Step 4 — Add Variance Columns to the Grid​

See variance data directly in the activity grid.

  1. Type: "Add baseline start, baseline finish, and start variance to the grid"
  2. Press Enter.
  3. The Copilot adds the requested columns.

What you should see: Three new columns appear in the grid: BL Start, BL Finish, and Start Variance. Each row shows the original baseline dates alongside the current dates and the difference in days.

Step 5 — Add More Variance Columns​

Add finish variance and duration variance for a complete picture.

  1. Type: "Add finish variance and duration variance to the grid"
  2. Press Enter.

What you should see: Two more columns appear: Finish Variance and Duration Variance. Activities with significant positive values (slipping) or negative values (accelerating) are immediately visible.

Step 6 — Filter to Significantly Slipped Activities​

Focus on activities that drifted the most.

  1. Type: "Filter the grid to activities with start variance greater than 10 days"
  2. Press Enter.
  3. The grid filters to show only activities that slipped by more than 10 days.

What you should see: A filtered subset of activities. These are the most problematic activities from a variance perspective. Non-affected activities are hidden.

Step 7 — Analyse Critical Path Impact​

Check whether the critical path has shifted.

  1. Type: "Did the critical path change from baseline?"
  2. Press Enter.
  3. The Copilot compares the critical path in both schedules.

What you should see: A response listing activities that were on the critical path in the baseline but are no longer critical (or vice versa). This reveals structural changes to the schedule logic.

Step 8 — Generate and Export a Variance Report​

Create a professional document summarising all variance findings.

  1. Type: "Generate a comparison narrative and export as DOCX"
  2. Press Enter.
  3. Wait for the AI to generate the narrative (10-15 seconds).
  4. The DOCX file downloads automatically.

What you should see: A Word document containing: Executive Summary, Change Overview (added/deleted/modified counts), Schedule Variance Analysis, Critical Path Impact, Cost Variance, and Recommendations. The document is formatted with headings, tables, and professional layout.

Step 9 — Clear the Filter​

Return to the full activity view.

  1. Type: "Clear the grid filter"
  2. Press Enter.
  3. All activities appear again.

What you should see: The grid is unfiltered, showing all activities with the variance columns still visible.

Step 10 — Verify Your Analysis​

Confirm you completed a full baseline variance analysis.

  1. You summarised changes from baseline (added, deleted, modified).
  2. You identified slipped activities with specific variance values.
  3. You queried all percentage types.
  4. You added variance columns to the grid for ongoing visibility.
  5. You filtered to the most significantly slipped activities.
  6. You exported a professional DOCX report.

What you should see: A thorough understanding of baseline drift with exportable documentation ready for stakeholders.

What's Next?​

Troubleshooting​

IssueSolution
"No baseline found" errorMark a schedule as Baseline in the Projects tab before running comparison queries.
Variance columns show blank valuesBaseline values only populate for activities that exist in both the baseline and current schedules. New activities will not have baseline data.
Filter returns no resultsReduce the variance threshold. Try "greater than 5 days" instead of 10.
DOCX export did not downloadCheck your browser's download settings and look for blocked download notifications.
Percentage types are missingSome percentage types require resource assignments. If your schedule has no resources, labour and cost percentages will not be available.