Set the project start or finish date
Project can schedule forward from a known start date or backward from a required finish date. The choice establishes the direction in which automatic scheduling calculates the plan.
Schedule from the start date
Section titled “Schedule from the start date”Scheduling from the start date is the usual flexible choice. Project calculates work forward, and linked tasks and other scheduling inputs determine later dates. The project finish is determined by the latest scheduled task finish; dependencies and other scheduling inputs affect those dates.1
Schedule from the finish date
Section titled “Schedule from the finish date”Schedule backward when the completion date is fixed or the start is unknown. Automatically scheduled tasks use As Late As Possible (ALAP) behavior by default in this direction. Because the engine is solving from the other end, the resulting dates and slack should be reviewed carefully.
When switching from start-date to finish-date scheduling, Project removes existing leveling delays and splits for automatically scheduled tasks. In automatically leveled schedules, leveling delays are placed after tasks in this mode.1
Where to set it
Section titled “Where to set it”In Project desktop, set the project start or finish date and the scheduling direction through Project > Project Information. The project-creation workflow also introduces these settings in Creating a Project in Microsoft Project.
In Project Plan 365, set the project start date through Project > Project Information or File > Options > Project Info. The finish date is calculated from the scheduled tasks rather than set as the scheduling direction, and it updates as the schedule changes. See the Project Plan 365 start-date instructions.
The direction is a project-level setting; it does not replace task dependencies, calendars, constraints, or resource information. For the complete calculation model, see How Microsoft Project schedules tasks.