2468301 - What is the difference Planned dates, Scheduled dates and Actual dates in a Project?

You want to know the distinction between Planned dates, Scheduled dates and Actual dates in the Scheduling tab of a project.

You also want to understand Constraint dates and Constraint Types.

SAP Business ByDesign

1. Go to Project Management work center.
2. Go to Projects view.
3. Find any project.
4. Click Edit - Project Plan.
5. Go to Scheduling tab.

You will see these fields here.

These dates have different roles in the project's scheduling.

Planned dates and Scheduled dates are the same dates. They are used to determine the time frame of the project and its tasks at the start of the project, during its creation or during the initial scheduling. They enable the project responsible to establish an estimated timeline.

Actual dates reflect the real-life situation. The Actual Start date is based on the first time recording and the Actual finish date reflects the date on which the project is completed and closed. These Actual dates are automatically calculated.

You cannot enter Actual dates before releasing the project task, therefore you cannot use the Actual dates to substitute the Planned dates.

The Constraint types are events that determine the rules to be applied to scheduling the Constraint dates in order to create a chronology. The Start Constraint Type impacts the Start Constraint Date and the Finish Constraint Type impacts the Finish Constraint Date.

The Constraint dates are only indicators for the project's timeline. Constraints are purely informational, they will have no impact on the system's behaviour in the sense that it will not block anything.

KBA , AP-PRO , Project Processing , How To