Change Task Start or Finish Dates

When you change the start and finish dates for a task on the Schedule tab, the dates automatically update on the Labor, Expense, Consultant, and Unit Planning tabs.

Deltek recommends that you schedule all task dates and associated dependencies before assigning resources to the tasks.

To change the start and/or finish dates on a task, complete the following steps:

1. From the Vision Navigation menu, click Planning > Project Planning and click the Schedule tab. You can change the dates on the Labor tab, the Schedule Planning grid, or the interactive Gantt chart.

   If you change the dates on the Labor tab, you must check that the Start and Finish dates of the parent WBS level are in alignment with the start and end dates of its child WBS level task. If they are not, use the Collapse Parent Dates option to force the parent WBS level dates to adjust to match the start and end dates of the child WBS level.

2. To change the dates on the Schedule Planning grid, locate the task and click twice in the Start or Finish date cell to activate the date, then complete one of the following actions:
   • Enter a date directly in the field, following the established date format.
   • Click the drop-down arrow to open the Calendar dialog box of the Schedule tab. You can select a date from the current calendar, use the right and left arrows to scroll through the months and select a different date, or click the calendar heading to change the view and locate the desired date.
   The cell changes from gray to white to indicate it is in an editable state.

   • If you change the start date of a task that has assigned resources, Vision prompts you to confirm the shift of the task data and maintain the existing duration.
   • If you change the finish date of a task that has assigned resources, Vision prompts you to confirm changing and re-spreading the data evenly across the new duration for the task. For example, if the task has 44 hours of work over the duration of one week, and you change the duration to two weeks, Vision automatically changes the dates and spreads the 44 hours evenly over two weeks' time.

   After you confirm the change and click off the date field, the black group bracket and/or green task bars shift on the interactive Gantt chart to start and/or finish on the specified date. The dates on the Labor, Expense, Consultant, and Unit Planning tabs also adjust. You cannot move the task item to a date that is earlier than the first date in the plan's accordion calendar.

3. To change the dates directly on the interactive Gantt chart, select, drag, and drop elements on the chart.
4. If the task has assigned resources, you changed the task dates directly on the interactive Gantt chart, and the resource dates shifted as a result, complete one of the following actions

   Option	Description
   To change the task and resource assignment dates but keep the same duration	Select, drag, and drop the entire task bar or black group bracket on the interactive Gantt chart. All task and resource data shifts accordingly, and if the row is the parent of other rows or contains dependent successor tasks, all child data also shifts.
   To change the start date or end date of the task and thus change the duration	Select and then slide the beginning or end of the task bar on the interactive Gantt chart. If no time-phased data exists for the task, then the task bar updates accordingly and the task start or end dates update on all Planning tabs. If time-phased data exists, Vision automatically spreads the task's data evenly across the duration when the Re-Spread Data when Re-Size Gantt Bar option is selected on the Options menu. If this option is not selected, Vision first prompts you to confirm the spreading of data. For example, if the task has 44 hours of work over the duration of one week, and you resize the task bar to change the duration to two weeks, Vision will automatically change the dates accordingly on the Labor tab and spread the 44 hours evenly over two weeks' time.

   After you release the left mouse click for the associated black group bracket or task bar, the task's Start and/or Finish date fields in the Schedule Planning grid adjust to display the newly specified date. The dates on the Labor, Expense, Consultant, and Unit Planning tabs also adjust. You cannot move the task item to a date that is earlier than the first date in the plan's accordion calendar.