Baselines in OnePlan - Overview

Purpose

This article explains what baselines are in OnePlan, why they matter, and how the default baseline works.

What you will accomplish
After reading this overview, you’ll be able to describe what a baseline is and understand how OnePlan captures baseline data.

What is a Baseline?

A baseline is a snapshot of your original project schedule. It records the plan exactly as it was at the moment you saved it, before any work begins. This gives you a clear point of comparison as the project progresses.

Saving a baseline is a common project management best practice. It helps teams understand how the project is performing against the original expectations and creates a shared reference point between project managers, team members, and stakeholders.

What Gets Captured in a Baseline?

When you save a baseline in OnePlan, key details about each task are stored so you can measure progress and compare changes over time.

By default, OnePlan stores the following fields for each work item in Baseline (0):

% Done: The percent complete at the time the baseline is captured. For an initial baseline, this should be 0% because no actual progress has occurred yet.
Start: The planned start date of the work item.
Due: The planned finish date of the work item.
Effort: The estimated hours required to complete the task.
Remaining Effort: Estimated hours remaining once work begins. For an initial baseline, this should match the planned effort since there are no actuals yet.

These stored values let you compare actual performance to your original plan at any point in the project.

Types of Baselines

OnePlan supports up to 11 baselines, giving you flexibility to track multiple snapshots throughout your project.

Baseline (0): The Primary Reporting Baseline

Baseline (0) is the baseline used for reporting and variance calculations. Because it feeds your project dashboards and reports, it’s important to always save your main project baseline to Baseline (0).

Additional Baselines (1–10): Historical Snapshots

You can also save additional baselines—such as Baseline (1), Baseline (2), etc.—to store historical changes over time.

Teams often use these to:

Capture major schedule revisions
Preserve the original baseline before re‑baselining
Keep a record of project evolution for later review

For example, you might save your initial baseline to Baseline (0) and then create Baseline (1) as a historical snapshot before major updates

Related Resources

If you’re ready to save a baseline, explore these task‑based articles: