How to compute the real finish date?

Question

I would like to compute the real finish date, I mean :

If Start date is 01/01/2015. and the Duration is 7 days , the real finish date is supposed to be 07/01/2015 (or at least 08/01/2015).

Please how to do that under Microsoft Project 2013 ??

Do I use a formula in custom field ? for instance :

 DateAdd("m";[NumberOfDuration];[Start])

Answer 1

Use elapsed days for durations that do not depend on working time. Enter the duration as "7ed".

Using elapsed durations bypasses all calendars (project, task, resource) and task type when calculating the finish date. They are typically used when the task duration is based on something physical (eg curing time) or something contractual (eg x needs to happen 30 days before/after some event). The latter is usually seen in lag durations.

To make a duration elapsed, put the letter e before the duration unit. This works for all units but is mostly used with days.

Examples: "7ed", "5 edays"

Answer 2

I'm guessing the problem you have is that duration defaults to work days (assumes 5 work days per week) and you are concerned about calendar days. There are a couple of ways around this:

• Don't use days. Use weeks or months (so type in "1 week" under duration). This is my preferred option.
• Change default duration unit to calendar days. You should be able to this this as follows:
  • Go to the Tools menu, select Options and then select the Calendar tab
  • Reset the default number of days per month to 30 or 31.

Obviously the second option isn't perfect 100% of the time, but if your time-frames for your tasks is typically less than one week it should be good enough for estimation purposes.