Choose a saved baseline slot
A project may contain multiple saved baselines. Each can represent a different approved snapshot, so comparing against the wrong slot can make an ordinary plan revision look like an unexpected delay. Select the intended slot and inspect the actual saved start and finish values before interpreting a difference.
A missing baseline does not mean the task was on time. The tool leaves the comparison unknown when the selected snapshot lacks the needed date. It also keeps a missing actual finish unknown; it does not substitute the scheduled finish and label that value as a completed outcome.
Distinguish schedule changes from recorded outcomes
Scheduled versus baseline compares the currently stored plan with the chosen snapshot. Actual versus baseline compares recorded actual dates where they exist. Those answer different questions. A task can have a revised scheduled finish without having finished, and a completed task can retain an older planned finish alongside its actual outcome.
Date differences here are elapsed wall-clock minutes, including weekends and holidays. They are not Microsoft Project’s calendar-based working-time variance. Dates with different timezone qualifiers are left incomparable in this profile instead of being silently shifted into the browser’s timezone. MPP wall-clock dates have no timezone assigned by this tool.
Review the underlying records with the chart
The amber bar shows the selected baseline and the green bar shows the stored schedule. Progress fill uses the supplied completion percentage; an absent percentage remains unknown. A marker identifies a stored milestone, while an undated task stays in the table without an invented timeline position.
Export the task table alongside the chart when discussing changes. The workbook includes the baseline slot, comparison mode and date-difference columns, making the visual review traceable to stored fields. Summary and child task durations are not summed into an artificial project total, and no critical-path or finish-date prediction is inferred from the displayed bars.