Let me explain to you how planning can be manipulated, similar to creative accounting. There is no rule in setting up a plan and tiny details play a huge role in manipulation of figures for reporting purposes.

1. Prorate is not applicable. General items is considered similar to preliminaries in the same sub-bill where these are prorated but claimed upfront.
2. Cost of critical path activities are back-loaded and then claimed as prorate. This bring to the third point which run parallel as this item.
3. Finish-to-start relationship; waterfall planning. This is also another way which can allow for good representation of a project where activities supposedly be start-to-start with minimal lags.
4. Justification in breakdowns. Less likely profit and attendance have ever being use in breaking down planning details. The closes would be based on schedule of rate. This indicates that procurement and delivery will take 30% or even 50% depending on the superintending officer or his representative(s). This method only used for items in prime cost bill.
5. The introduction and reporting of additional variations and provisional without ceiling items into the project work program without revising and inclusion of addenda/addendum to initial project baseline.
6. Leveraging highly weighted activities instead of critical activities, affected activities, and the introduction of breakdowns after extension of time is granted. This allows for room to breath not effort as this controls the relationship and the rate of how cost is distributed, similar to point no.2 above.

There are so many ways but let us keep these points as fundamental in manipulations when it comes to project reporting.

At the end of the day, such reporting is good but what is worrying if this attempt is smeared by unscrupulous peoples and backed by countrymen who fancy creativity in reported numbers. It is back to square one with slightly some efforts to update that board which carries no truth of project progress projection. It is called GIGOLOL - garbage in, garbage out; laugh out loud.