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Actually, the start date is just the earliest possible date that a task can begin. It can "be due" to start anytime on or after that date, preferably as soon as possible or at least not so late that it uses up all of the float, and if it is already on the critical path it has none to use up.



The finish date is just the earliest possible date that a task can finish, not necessarily the date that it "is scheduled to end".



As Darren says, a task has either a planned start date ("scheduled to start as soon as possible") on some date in the future, until it has an actual start date in the past, but it cannot have both, so the start and finish shown by MSP is either one or the other.



Once a Task has an actual start date, then the previous "planned"/"scheduled"/"intended" start date is pretty much just of historical interest only and is almost irrelevant or at least has no further effect on that task or the other tasks in the plan. What matters then is the actual duration up to the status date and even more important is the estimated remaining duration until the task is finished.



Save a baseline

Set a status date

Show the Tracking Gantt View

Show the Tracking Table

Show the Tracking Toolbar

Format the Gridlines to show the Status Date as a vertical red line on the chart.



Now you have everything you need.

Get the hang of the buttons on the Tracking Toolbar.

Practice this with just 2 x 10 day tasks linked FS and the Status Date set to say the end of what should be Day 6.

Every bar tells a story. Make sure it tells the story of what happened and what remains to happen.

Actually, the start date is just the earliest possible date that a task can begin. It can "be due" to start anytime on or after that date, preferably as soon as possible or at least not so late that it uses up all of the float, and if it is already on the critical path it has none to use up.



The finish date is just the earliest possible date that a task can finish, not necessarily the date that it "is scheduled to end".



As Darren says, a task has either a planned start date ("scheduled to start as soon as possible") on some date in the future, until it has an actual start date in the past, but it cannot have both, so the start and finish shown by MSP is either one or the other.



Once a Task has an actual start date, then the previous "planned"/"scheduled"/"intended" start date is pretty much just of historical interest only and is almost irrelevant or at least has no further effect on that task or the other tasks in the plan. What matters then is the actual duration up to the status date and even more important is the estimated remaining duration until the task is finished.



Save a baseline

Set a status date

Show the Tracking Gantt View

Show the Tracking Table

Show the Tracking Toolbar

Format the Gridlines to show the Status Date as a vertical red line on the chart.



Now you have everything you need.

Get the hang of the buttons on the Tracking Toolbar.

Practice this with just 2 x 10 day tasks linked FS and the Status Date set to say the end of what should be Day 6.

Every bar tells a story. Make sure it tells the story of what happened and what remains to happen.

Faisal,



Simply put, the start date is the date a task is due to begin. It is determined by constraints or precedence. The finish date is the date a task is scheduled to end and it’s governed by constraints or duration.



Please note the underlying theme of the post so far... these are planned dates.



If you plan to start something on a Monday but can’t start it until Tuesday, do you still want to show Monday as the start date? The actual start date should always override the start date if there is a discrepancy with your actual and planned dates.



If you need refer to your original planned date, as Mark quite rightly points out, you can look at the baselined date, so why not let the schedule reflect reality?



Your finish dates are also changing because they have an association with the start date. Unless they are tied to a date by a constraint, they are calculated using a combination of calendar and duration.



Therefore your two day task that was planned to start on Monday and finish on Tuesday, will now have a new finish date of Wednesday if you actually start work on Tuesday.



Of course if you’re an exemplary planner, everything will progress to plan and nothing in the schedule will change. :o)



Regards,



Darren

This is a feature you have to live with but if you have a baseline then this is no problem.