The Time (or Program) dashboard provides a summary view of the program information from your MS Project file.
IMPORTANT: You only need to import your MS Project file once. Each time you save your project file, the dashboard in Acuite will automatically update with the latest information.
Acuite MS Plugin Installation
First, check if the Acuite menu is available in MS Project.
If you don’t see it, you’ll need to install an add-in on your computer. If you're using a terminal server environment, please contact your IT support to handle the installation.
Connecting to Acuite
After installing the add-in, you should see an Acuite menu in the toolbar. Click on this menu and select "Connect to Acuite". You'll then need to enter your Acuite username and password to log in.
Choose the relevant project from the drop-down menu.
Target or Contract Program/Schedule?
We currently support adding two types of programs/schedules: Target and Contract. Select either Target or Contract from the dropdown list.
You can sync both Target and Contract programs if your Acuite license is configured for it. To sync both, first select one (e.g., Contract) and click Save. This will send the Contract program to Acuite. Then, select Target from the dropdown list and click Save to sync the Target program.
Once the project is synced and your license allows it, you’ll be able to toggle between Contract and Target on all relevant dashboards, from the project level to the portfolio level, including the Portfolio Program Dashboard.
Click Save to sync the program with Acuite.
Note: You can select the specific information to send to Acuite using the Acuite Plan Type field.
Selective Sync using the Acuite Plan Types
The Acuite Plan Types feature lets you tag one or multiple MS Project tasks.
Note: The tags (e.g. Key Milestones, Project Forecast Completion, Procurement, and Client Responsibility) can be configured in the system/project settings menu under Program Settings.
After syncing, you can use these plan types to filter the dashboards and display the specific information you’re interested in.
To tag your tasks in MS Project, you need to add a new column in MS Project named Acuite Plan Type (Text 30).
Review the project program/schedule and assign an Acuite Plan Type to the tasks you want to import.
Excluding a task from being imported
To exclude a task from being imported into Acuite, assign it the Acuite Plan Type [not imported].
Populating some specific widgets
Depending on the setup, it will appear in specific widgets, such as the Key Project Dates or Key Milestones widgets. See examples:
When you assign a task as a 'Key Milestone' plan type, it will appear in the Key Milestones widget.
When you assign a 'Forecast Completion Date Marker' plan type to a project end date, using a 'Forecast Completion Date Marker' plan type, it can be imported into a Key Dates widget:
Tip: If you assign an Acuite Plan Type (e.g., Construction) to a summary-level task, all sub-tasks under that summary task will be imported into Acuite with the same Plan Type.
When you save the project plan, it will sync the program data with Acuite, updating the milestones, milestone chart, and summary cards within the Time dashboard. In Acuite’s standard Time dashboard configuration, you can filter by the different Acuite Plan Types you’ve set up (e.g., Construction, Client Responsibility) to categorize tasks and graphs. If your company uses a custom dashboard setup, it may appear differently than the diagram below.
Note: We recommend selecting "Always Sync on Save." This ensures that every time you update and save the project plan, the tasks will automatically sync with Acuite.
Tracking Delays & Extensions of Time (EoTs)
You can also track project delays in Acuite by adding a column named Acuite Delay Type. This allows you to generate a delay report to support EoT claims. Insert the Acuite Delay Type column in MS Project, assign it to tasks with delays, and it will sync with Acuite.
You can generate a delay report in Acuite that will include these tasks.
Status Date
If a status date is set in MS Project, Acuite will use that date for calculations instead of today’s date.