Chapter 17: Integrating Microsoft Project with Microsoft Excel

Overview

Several techniques for information interchange are at your disposal to exchange information in Microsoft Office Project 2003 with Microsoft Excel. Not only can you integrate Excel information into your project plan, but you can also feed information from Project 2003 to an Excel workbook. Such capabilities provide for a greater ease of information sharing among team members and project stakeholders. Transferring data between Microsoft Project and Excel can simplify aspects of building your project plan, tracking progress, reporting status, and communicating with stakeholders

Using the special Excel-to-Project templates, you can have stakeholders build task lists and even a more elaborate project plan using Excel, and import those files seamlessly into Project. You can copy resource lists from an Excel worksheet. You can embed an Excel chart into a Gantt chart. You can even link Excel information in Microsoft Project to automatically update when that information changes.

Going the other direction, you can easily transfer portions of your project data into Microsoft Excel, so you can take advantage of the formatting and calculation options available there. For example, you can export project cost or earned value data to Excel. You might want Excel to crunch tracking data or assignment information in a particular way. For example, you can create pivot tables with project data. You can also create graphs, such as S-curves, showing project performance information.

Cross-References  

For more information about creating pivot tables and S-curves using project data in Excel, see "Calculating Project Information in Microsoft Excel". For information about exchanging information with other applications besides Excel, see Chapter 16, "Exchanging Information with Other Applications."

The methods for transferring information between Microsoft Project and Excel are as follows :

• Copy and paste sheet or graphic information.

• Insert, or embed, a Microsoft Project file into an Excel file.

• Insert, or embed, an Excel workbook or chart into a Microsoft Project file.

• Link information dynamically between the Microsoft Project and Excel files, so that when that information changes in one file, the same information in the other file automatically updates to reflect that change.

• Open , or import, an Excel file as a Microsoft Project file.

You can also import a Microsoft Project file as an Excel file.

• Save, or export, a Microsoft Project file as an Excel file. The file is converted to the Excel file format so it can simply be opened in Excel. You can also export an Excel file as a Microsoft Project file.

These techniques are all covered throughout this chapter.