When PM Compass calculates duration, it takes into account the non-working days and holidays in the calendar. For example, say you have a calendar with a regular 5-day work week. You add an activity that starts on a Thursday with a 3-day duration. The activity bar on the barchart begins on Thursday and ends on Monday because it doesn't include Saturday and Sunday in the 3-day calculation.
The control account duration is calculated as the forecast finish - forecast start +1/30 to show months (this allows the CAM to check the length against their company guidelines).
The work package duration is calculated as the forecast finish - forecast start +1/7 to show weeks (this allows the CAM to check the length against their company guidelines).
Activity duration is displayed directly from the schedule. If you do not enter a unit, the unit in Schedule Duration Unit on the Projects Progress tab will be used. If the duration changes, PM Compass recalculates the Forecast Finish date by adding the duration to the Forecast Start date.
Durations may use any of the following duration units:
m — months
w — weeks
d — days
h — hours
t — minutes*
*You do not have the ability to enter duration in minutes, however there may be occasion when the system calculates the duration value and displays it in minutes.
While duration may contain decimal values (for example, 4.5d), you cannot enter duration using mixed duration units. (For example, 4d4h is not allowed.) Open plan interprets an activity with a blank duration field as having zero duration.