Why Can’t I add Timephased Actuals in My Tasks following SP2 Upgrade?

Does your EPM business process include adding timephased actuals in My Tasks i.e. not via My Timesheets?. If so, you may want to read about the following changes in SP2.
If, however, your EPM business process involves capturing actuals via My Timesheets and then importing timesheets to update task progress in MyTasks, then this does not affect you.

Pre SP2 Scenario

Prior to SP2, even if the Task Tracking Method was set to ‘Percent of Work Complete’, users could enter timephased actual in My Tasks. This was a flaw in the system. This feature should only have been available for projects with Task Tracking Method of ‘Hours of work done per period’.

Note: Light weight projects i.e. ‘Proposals and Activity Plans’ have Task Tracking Method hard coded to ‘Percent of Work Complete’. There is no means for project managers/users to change to any of the other method of Task Tracking.

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Post SP2 Scenario

Users/Team Members will not be able to enter timephased actuals directly in My Tasks if project Task Tracking Method is set to ‘Percent of Work Complete’. This flaw has been resolved in SP2. Users who had previously been able to do this may not see this as a positive change. This also applies to users of light weight projects i.e. ‘Proposals and Activity Plans’ as they have Task Tracking Method hard coded to ‘Percent of Work Complete’. The timephased actuals field will be disabled. See example below.

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For projects planned using Project Professional, users need to ensure that correct Task Tracking Method is used i.e. ‘Hours of work done per period’. For light weight projects, users will need to use My Timesheets to capture actuals and then import timesheets to update task progress in MyTasks.