Start/Finish dates vs. est. start/ est. finish

J

Jake Cole

In project 2000 there were two fields called estimated finish and
estimated finish. Now in Project Pro 2003 when I go ro insert a new
field all that are available that are similar are start, finish,
actual start and actual finish. How are the start and finish different
then the actual start/finish fields? Are the Start and Finish fields
meant to replace the est. start/finish? If not is there a substitute?

Thanks so much for your help!
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Jake --

In Microsoft Project, there are three fields that are relevant to tracking
the finish date of a task. They are:

Finish
Actual Finish
Baseline Finish

When you plan your project, Microsoft Project calculates the finish date for
each task and saves this date in the Finish field. A good way to think
about this field is that it represents your estimated finish date for the
task. When you baseline your project, the values in the Finish field are
copied to the Baseline Finish field for each task. This field represents
your original estimated finish date for each task, and will not change under
any circumstances unless you rebaseline your project.

When a task actually finishes, Microsoft Project calculates the actual
finish date for the task and stores this date in the Actual Finish field.
Because "actuals always replace estimates", Microsoft Project also changes
the Finish date (your original estimated finish date) to the Actual Finish
date. Thus, when a task is completed, the Finish and the Actual Finish
fields contain the same date.

Remember, however, that the Baseline Finish field holds your original
estimated finish date for the task. The Finish field and the Baseline
Finish field are used by Microsoft Project to calculate the Finish Variance
for a task. If a task finishes two days later than its baseline finish
date, Microsoft Project calculates 2 days of variance on that task. Hope
this helps.

--
Dale A. Howard [MVP]
Enterprise Project Trainer/Consultant
Denver, Colorado
http://www.msprojectexperts.com
"We wrote the book on Project Server"
 
J

Jake Cole

Thanks this does help, I assume the same information rings true for start dates?
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Jake --

You are correct, my friend!




Jake Cole said:
Thanks this does help, I assume the same information rings true for start dates?

"Dale Howard [MVP]" <dale(dot)howard(at)msprojectexperts.com> wrote in
Click to expand...
 
Top