Saving and comparing baselines
How to save a baseline, what the variance columns mean, and how many baselines each plan allows.
What a baseline is
A baseline is a snapshot of the plan at a moment in time. Once saved it does not change, which is what makes it useful: it is the version you agreed to, preserved so you can measure drift against it.
Save one when a plan is signed off, not continuously. A baseline you re-save every week measures nothing.
Saving one
Open Baselines and choose to save a baseline now. You can give it a name, which is worth doing -- "Board sign-off, March" is easier to reason about later than a date.
Reading the variance
Once a baseline exists, each task shows its baseline start and end against its current dates, plus three variances: finish variance in days, effort variance, and cost variance.
Tasks created after a baseline was saved are marked as such rather than being shown with a nonsensical variance against dates that never existed.
You can also hide a baseline from the Gantt while keeping it saved, which is useful when you have several and only want to compare against one at a time.
Which plans have baselines
Baselines are a Professional feature, with up to 5 saved per project. When a project reaches 5, delete an old one to save a new one.