Baselines — Track Schedule Variance

A baseline is a frozen snapshot of your project schedule. It answers the most important question in project management: are we ahead or behind the original plan?

Why baselines matter

Without a baseline, you only know where you are. With one, you know whether you're winning or losing. This is the difference between reporting "we're 60% done" and "we're 60% done but we're 8 days behind the plan."

In formal project management (PMI, Prince2), baselines are a core control mechanism. Schedule Variance (SV) measures how much the current schedule has drifted from baseline. Negative SV means you're behind; positive means ahead.

Common use cases for baselines:

• Weekly status reports: "Here's where we said we'd be vs. where we are"
• Scope change impact: save a baseline before accepting a change request
• Post-mortem analysis: understand where the schedule slipped and why
• Client accountability: demonstrate delivery against the agreed plan

When to set a baseline

Set your first baseline at project kickoff, after the plan is reviewed and approved. This becomes your "contract" with stakeholders.

You can set additional baselines at phase boundaries. For example: save "Baseline v2" after a change request adds 2 weeks to development, so you can compare against the revised plan going forward.

How to use baselines in LoopGantt

Save a baseline

1. Open your project in Gantt view and click the Baseline button in the toolbar (or go to Project Settings → Baselines).
2. Click Save Baseline. Give it a name (e.g., "v1 — Approved 2026-04-01").
3. The baseline is saved as a snapshot of all current task dates and durations.

View baseline comparison

1. Click the Baseline button and select a saved baseline.
2. Toggle Show Comparison. Each task now shows a thin grey baseline bar behind the current bar.
3. Tasks that have slipped show the current bar starting or ending later than the grey baseline — instantly visible.

Reading the comparison