Start date changes when Finish Date updated

[Andy Novak]

We are not using timesheets anymore but recording status through
meetings. I mod the % complete and finish date usually, depending on
how things are reported. Usually the start date isn't changed.

On a task that has already started, when I extend the finish date, the
start date is moved out by MS Project as well. Is this because I'm
using "Fixed Units" (we needed to use this to make the timesheet
update work WHEN we were using timesheets)?

This doesn't happen for tasks that have not yet started. Is there a
setting I need to use that will keep the start date intact? I want
the duration to increase when the finish date is extended rather than
having to figure out how many days to add to the duration to extend
the finish date out.

Thanks,
Andy Novak
University of North Texas

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Andy --

The Start date of the task is moving because your are manually changing the
Finish date of the task. In doing so, you are unintentionally setting a
Finish No Earlier Than (FNET) constaint on the task. This is the default
behavior of the tool when you manually enter a Finish date for a task, and
this behavior cannot be changed. If you need to adjust the Finish date of a
task, change the Duration of the task instead to finish the task on the date
desired. Hope this helps.