One further point- If completed work/tasks are appearing to the right of today's date, this means that you have marked as complete a task that was in the future. This is a common mistake. Unfortunately, just because you marked it as 100% complete before it was supposed to be completed does not mean that MS-Project "realises" it should now be in the past. You need to do two things on a regular basis.

1. When you actually start working on a task, make sure its Start Date matches the date you actually started on it, not when MS-P happens to have scheduled it.

2. If it finishes early this means it did not require as much work to complete as planned. Rather than merely setting it to 100% complete, first ensure the Completed Work and Remaining Work accurately represent reality (i.e. Completed work is how much work was actually done, Outstanding Work should be zero if you are saying it is complete). If the task start date in MS-P matches when it did actually start, then this step will mean that you don't have tasks completed in the future, they always end on the day they actually ended.

The main problem with completed tasks in the future of an MS-P project plan is that the system continues to recognise the resource spend in the future days. So whatever resources were applied to the task are believed by the system to be actually working on that task in the future even though you marked it as complete! This is a bad thing as it means MS-P doesn't apply them to other tasks even though they are actually free to work on something.

If completed work/tasks are appearing to the right of today's date, this means that you have marked as complete a task that was in the future. This is a common mistake. Unfortunately, just because you marked it as 100% complete before it was supposed to be completed does not mean that MS-Project "realises" it should now be in the past. You need to do two things on a regular basis.

1. When you actually start working on a task, make sure its Start Date matches the date you actually started on it, not when MS-P happens to have scheduled it.

2. If it finishes early this means it did not require as much work to complete as planned. Rather than merely setting it to 100% complete, first ensure the Completed Work and Remaining Work accurately represent reality (i.e. Completed work is how much work was actually done, Outstanding Work should be zero if you are saying it is complete). If the task start date in MS-P matches when it did actually start, then this step will mean that you don't have tasks completed in the future, they always end on the day they actually ended.

The main problem with completed tasks in the future of an MS-P project plan is that the system continues to recognise the resource spend in the future days. So whatever resources were applied to the task are believed by the system to be actually working on that task in the future even though you marked it as complete! This is a bad thing as it means MS-P doesn't apply them to other tasks even though they are actually free to work on something.

One further point- If completed work/tasks are appearing to the right of today's date, this means that you have marked as complete a task that was in the future. This is a common mistake. Unfortunately, just because you marked it as 100% complete before it was supposed to be completed does not mean that MS-Project "realises" it should now be in the past. You need to do two things on a regular basis.

1. When you actually start working on a task, make sure its Start Date matches the date you actually started on it, not when MS-P happens to have scheduled it.

2. If it finishes early this means it did not require as much work to complete as planned. Rather than merely setting it to 100% complete, first ensure the Completed Work and Remaining Work accurately represent reality (i.e. Completed work is how much work was actually done, Outstanding Work should be zero if you are saying it is complete). If the task start date is MS-P matches when it did actually start, then this step will mean that you don't have tasks completed in the future, they always end on the day they actually ended.

The main problem with tasks in the future of an MS-P project plan is that the system continues to recognise the resource spend in the future days. So whatever resources are applied to the task are believed by the system to be actually working on that task in the future even though you marked it as complete! This is a bad thing as it means MS-P doesn't apply them to other tasks even though they are actually free to work on something.

One further point- If completed work/tasks are appearing to the right of today's date, this means that you have marked as complete a task that was in the future. This is a common mistake. Unfortunately, just because you marked it as 100% complete before it was supposed to be completed does not mean that MS-Project "realises" it should now be in the past. You need to do two things on a regular basis.

1. When you actually start working on a task, make sure its Start Date matches the date you actually started on it, not when MS-P happens to have scheduled it.

2. If it finishes early this means it did not require as much work to complete as planned. Rather than merely setting it to 100% complete, first ensure the Completed Work and Remaining Work accurately represent reality (i.e. Completed work is how much work was actually done, Outstanding Work should be zero if you are saying it is complete). If the task start date in MS-P matches when it did actually start, then this step will mean that you don't have tasks completed in the future, they always end on the day they actually ended.

The main problem with completed tasks in the future of an MS-P project plan is that the system continues to recognise the resource spend in the future days. So whatever resources were applied to the task are believed by the system to be actually working on that task in the future even though you marked it as complete! This is a bad thing as it means MS-P doesn't apply them to other tasks even though they are actually free to work on something.