Update Percent Complete from the Projects List
Use the Update Percent Complete action when you want BaseBuilders to calculate percent complete for selected projects based on the billing value of accrued time slips.
This is useful when you want the system to estimate progress from the work that has been entered, instead of manually updating percent complete phase by phase.
What This Action Does
The Update Percent Complete action updates the percent complete on active project phases.
BaseBuilders calculates percent complete by comparing the billing value of accrued time slips against the phase fee amount.
In plain English:
BaseBuilders looks at the time entered on the phase, applies the billing rates, calculates the billing value of that work, and compares it to the phase fee.
That calculated value can then be used to update the phase percent complete.
Important Rule: It Only Moves Percent Complete Forward
This action will only update a phase if the calculated percent complete is greater than the percent complete already assigned to the phase.
For example, if a phase is already set to 40% complete and the system calculates 32%, BaseBuilders will not reduce the phase to 32%.
This helps prevent accidental backward movement in project progress.
How to Update Percent Complete for Multiple Projects
Start from the Projects list.
Use a query or filter to narrow the list to the projects you want to update.
Select the projects you want to include.
When projects are selected, BaseBuilders shows an orange Deselect option. This lets you know items are currently selected, and you can use it to clear the selection if needed.
Click Actions.
Choose Update Percent Complete.
BaseBuilders will display a message explaining that the action updates percent complete for active phases based on the billing value of accrued time slips.
Click Update.
BaseBuilders will calculate percent complete for the active phases on the selected projects. Once the phase values are updated, the system rolls those values up to update the overall project percent complete.
Why Some Projects May Not Update
Some projects may not update if their phase setup is incomplete.
One common issue is that the project phases do not have a valid % of Total Project assigned.
BaseBuilders needs to know how much each phase contributes to the overall project in order to roll phase percent complete up to the project level.
For example, a project may have two phases:
One phase represents 60% of the project
Another phase represents 40% of the project
Once those percentages are assigned and saved, BaseBuilders can calculate the total project percent complete based on the weighted progress of each phase.
How Project Percent Complete Is Calculated
Project percent complete is based on the percent complete of the individual phases, weighted by each phase’s share of the total project.
For fixed fee work, BaseBuilders looks at the billing value of accrued time slips.
That means:
Hours worked are multiplied by the billing rate.
That billing value is compared to the phase fee amount.
The result becomes the calculated percent complete for that phase.
Then BaseBuilders applies the phase’s percentage of the total project to calculate the overall project percent complete.
Example
A project has two phases.
One phase is 60% of the total project.
The second phase is 40% of the total project.
If the first phase is calculated to be 21.15% complete and the second phase has its own calculated progress, BaseBuilders uses those phase percentages and their project weights to calculate the overall percent complete for the project.
That is why the project percent complete may show something like 22.6% after the update.
The project number is not just an average of the phases. It is based on the weighted contribution of each phase to the total project.
Manual Percent Complete Still Matters
The auto-calculated percent complete is a tool, not a requirement.
You can still manually edit the percent complete on a phase.
In many firms, the most accurate percent complete comes from someone with project experience reviewing the actual work. A project manager may look at the drawings, deliverables, or phase status and decide that a phase is really 25% complete, even if the time-based calculation suggests a different number.
BaseBuilders allows either approach.
You can let the system calculate percent complete based on accrued time and billing value, or you can manually set the percentage based on professional judgment.
When to Use This Action
Use Update Percent Complete when you want to:
Update multiple projects at once
Estimate progress based on accrued time slips
Refresh percent complete values before reviewing project status
Support fixed fee earned value calculations
Reduce manual phase-by-phase updating
Bring project progress forward based on work already entered
When to Review Manually
You should review the percent complete manually when:
The project manager has better information than the time entries alone
The project is ahead of or behind the labor curve
The phase fee does not line up cleanly with the actual work effort
The team has entered time late or inconsistently
A phase is nearly complete but still has cleanup work remaining
The system calculation is useful, but it should not replace judgment when the actual project status is known.
Key Takeaway
The Update Percent Complete action gives you a fast way to update project progress based on the billing value of accrued time slips.
BaseBuilders calculates phase progress, applies each phase’s share of the total project, and updates the overall project percent complete.
You can use the calculation as-is, or you can manually adjust percent complete when project judgment gives you a better answer.