Percent Delay Calculator

| Added in Business Finance

What is Percent Delay?

Percent Delay measures how much a task or project exceeded its allocated time as a percentage. This metric is essential in project management for tracking schedule performance, identifying bottlenecks, and improving future time estimates.

How to Calculate Percent Delay

The formula for calculating percent delay is:

[\text{Percent Delay} = \frac{\text{Actual Time} - \text{Allocated Time}}{\text{Allocated Time}} \times 100]

Where:

  • Percent Delay is the percentage by which the actual time exceeded the allocated time
  • Actual Time is the time actually taken to complete the task
  • Allocated Time is the planned or budgeted time

Calculation Example

Suppose a project was allocated 10 days but actually took 13 days to complete.

Step 1: Identify the values:

  • Actual Time: 13 days
  • Allocated Time: 10 days

Step 2: Apply the formula:

[\text{Percent Delay} = \frac{13 - 10}{10} \times 100]

Step 3: Calculate:

[\text{Percent Delay} = \frac{3}{10} \times 100 = 30%]

The project experienced a 30% delay.

Interpretation Guide

Percent Delay Performance
< 0% Ahead of schedule
0% On schedule
1% - 10% Minor delay
11% - 25% Moderate delay
> 25% Significant delay

Frequently Asked Questions

Percent delay measures how much longer a task took compared to the allocated time, expressed as a percentage of the original estimate.

A negative percent delay means the task was completed ahead of schedule. For example, -20% means the task finished 20% faster than planned.

This metric helps identify tasks that consistently run over time, improve future estimates, and assess team or process efficiency.

Use any consistent unit for both values (hours, days, weeks). The percentage result is independent of the unit used.