Specifying a start or finish date for a project

By default, the start date of a project is the day on which it is created, and the finish date - which is calculated by rescheduling - is the date on which the latest task in the project finishes. Rather than having to accept these default dates, you can specify a different start date or finish date for the project.

If you specify a different start date, this is known as an 'imposed start' date; if you specify a different finish date, this is known as an 'imposed finish' date. You cannot specify both an imposed start date and an imposed finish date; if you specify one of these dates, the other date is calculated by rescheduling.

To specify an imposed start or finish date for a project:

Click File, then Properties to view the Properties tab of the Backstage view.
Enter the date on which you want the project to start in the Imposed start field, or enter the date on which you want the project to finish in the Imposed finish field.

Note that if you change the imposed start date to a date that is later than the report date of one or more existing progress periods, a warning appears. If this warning appears, click OK to amend the report dates of your progress periods so that they start on or after the new imposed start date, click Close to set the new imposed start date but leave the report dates of the progress periods unaffected, or click Cancel to abandon your change to the imposed start date. If you click Close, you will need to edit the report dates of the progress periods manually.