Early finish task field

Data Type    Date

Entry Type    Calculated

Description    The Early Finish field contains the earliest date that a task could possibly finish, based on early finish dates of predecessor and successor tasks, other constraints, and any leveling delay.

How Calculated    When you first create a task, its early finish date is the same as the scheduled finish date, which is based on the start date and scheduled task duration. As you link the task to predecessors and successors and apply any other constraints, Project calculates the early finish date as the earliest possible date this task could be finished if all predecessor and successor tasks also finish on their early finish dates. These calculations are based on a fixed task duration. If there is a leveling delay on the task, this delay is also figured into the early finish date.

Best Uses    Add the Early Finish field to a task view, along with the Early Start, Late Start, and Late Finish fields, to analyze slack time in your schedule.

Example    Several critical tasks are slipping and likely to cause the entire project to be severely delayed. You add the Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, and Late Finish fields to the Task Sheet view to analyze the delays and find any available slack time.