Microsoft Project

[WilliamsK]

Finish Date vs. Actual Finish Date - Is there a way to enter a Finish Date
and not have that date change when you enter the Actual Finish Date?

Currently if I have a Finish Date of 1/10/05; but Actual Finish Date was
1/18/05, the program automatically changes the Finish Date to 01/18/05. This
drives me crazy because it is giving inaccurate date.

Thanks for the help!
Kathy

 

[JulieS]

Hi Kathy,

The Finish Date field you see in multiple tables will update when you enter
tracking information and there is no way to stop that from happening.

From Help:
"The Finish field shows the date when a task is scheduled to be completed.....
<snip>
If you enter an actual finish date that is different from the scheduled
finish date, Project changes the scheduled finish date to match the date in
the Actual Finish field. "

I think what you are looking for is the comparision of what your original
planned Finish was (10 January 2005) and your Actual Finish. Your original
plan should be saved in a Baseline (Tools > Tracking > Save Baseline) before
you start supplying tracking (supplying actual data).

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.
Julie

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

Here's why the Finish date HAS to change when you enter an Actual Finish. I
have my Task 1 starting 03 Jan and ending 1/10/05. Following it I have a
task 2 that requires whatever task 1 is producing. Because it needs the
output of task 1, it can't start until 1 is finished. We put in a link from
task 1 to control it and Project shows it starting on Jan 11, driven by 1's
finish. Task 1 runs late and actually finishes 1/18 so we put in 1/18/05 as
the Actual Finish. Should we leave task 2 on the 11th or should it be
pushed out to the 19th? Remember it can't start until 1 is done because it
needs 1's output. If task 1 Finish remains at the 10th, 2's start will
remain on the 11th. The only way it can get pushed to the 19th where it
really is now able to start is if entering the Actual Finish on 1 also
updates the Scheduled Finish on 1.

Project plans are dynamic creatures and must respond to changing conditions.
As John and Julie have already pointed out, the purpose of a saving a
baseline before starting to post actuals is so you have a static record of
what you thought you'd be able to do to compare to the current plan wihch
shows what you really did do and forecasts what will happen in the future
based on the way things have gone so far.

Steve House [MVP]

 

[John]

Finish Date vs. Actual Finish Date - Is there a way to enter a Finish Date
and not have that date change when you enter the Actual Finish Date?

Currently if I have a Finish Date of 1/10/05; but Actual Finish Date was
1/18/05, the program automatically changes the Finish Date to 01/18/05. This
drives me crazy because it is giving inaccurate date.

Thanks for the help!
Kathy

Kathy,
First of all, you shouldn't be entering Finish Dates (or Start Dates).
The main premise of Project is to calculate a schedule based on primary
input data. That primary data consists of:
1. Entering a action based description of tasks to be performed
2. Estimating a Duration for each performance task based on historical
information or educated guesses
3. Setting up linkages between tasks that establish a logic flow of the
tasks to be performed
4. Assigning Work and resources to perform the tasks

Those are the basics. From the Duration and linkages, Project will
calculate all task Start and Finish dates. On rare occasions the user
may need to directly input a task Start date if that task is independent
of any predecessors and is likely to start after the beginning of the
project. For example, a resource only becomes available to start a task
a few months after other project tasks have started.

Now, with regard to Finish and Actual Finish. The Finish field is the
original estimate (calculated by Project) of when the task will be
complete. If the task actually finishes early (or later), the original
estimate is null and void because the Actual Finish has now been
determined. If you want to track performance to the original plan, a
baseline should be set (Tools/Tracking/Save Baseline) before any work is
performed on the plan. With later versions of Project several baselines
can be set to allow tracking the effects of major schedule changes. If
you need to track earned value, a saved baseline is the data used by
Project to calculate EV parameters (e.g. BCWP, CPI, etc.).

Hopefully this gives a little clearer picture.
John
Project MVP