Forum Discussion
Project Changing % Complete when entered
Why does MS Project change the % Complete value entered?
We have a task with a Start date of 11/12/25 and Finish date of 1/20/27. The duration is 223.9 days based on a 4 day/10 hrs per day calendar (it is a long lead time material procurement task). The status date is 1/5/26 and the task has an Actual Start of 11/12/25. When I enter 10 in the % complete column and hit enter, Project changes this to 0%. When I enter 15 in the % complete column and hit enter, Project changes this to 5%. When I enter 50 in the % complete column and hit enter, Project changes this to 44%.
I believe % Complete is either calculated or entered, but it seems if you enter a value in this field, Project shouldn't change it. What causes Project to change your % Complete value entered, and how do you get Project to display the desired % Complete for a task like this?
4 Replies
Brett_Phifer_SCI,
Somethings not quite jelling with the scenario you provide. When I set up a task with the parameters stated, the finish date is 12/8/26, not 1/20/27. Are there some non-working days thrown in (e.g. holidays)?
You mention the status date is 1/5/26 but that is irrelevant when entering percent complete directly into the % Complete field.
A few questions:
- What is the task type?
- Is the task auto-scheduled?
- Are any resources assigned and if so, what is the resource's Base Calendar?
- Are you by chance entering a value into the Actual Duration field, Remaining Duration or Actual Work fields in addition to entering a value in the % Complete field?
John
Thank you for responding. To address your questions, we do have nonworking days. We have about 6 non-working days throughout the year plus the week between Christmas and New Year's is scheduled as non-working. I'm fairly new to this schedule, but I can see the task shows a Baseline Duration of 200 working days from 9/30/25 to 10/1/26. The Actual Start is 11/12/25 although there is 0% progress.
The task type is fixed duration, auto-scheduled, it is only loaded with a Materials resource, and I'm pretty confident no one has updated the Remaining Duration or Actual Work, as the typical practice here is to update the % complete then "Update Project - Reschedule incomplete work to start on the status date."
I believe the best practice is to update Remaining Duration and let Project calculate the % complete, but for this task, even when I enter a value in Remaining Duration, the % Complete value stays at 0. I want to advise the team on the correct way to update progress to reflect their estimated FInish Date (based on Remaining Duration) and % Complete, but updating one of these fields isn't producing the expected result in the other field.
Brett_Phifer_SCI,
When it comes to statusing tasks in Project, one size doesn't fit all.
For a work resource, unless waiting for a wound to heal, actual duration accomplishes nothing. For a work resource, progress is work and actual work. Remaining work is adjusted as necessary.
For a material resource actual duration does have meaning. For example if the resource is fuel and the material label is gal/day then the number of days (duration) is the metric for consumption. A cost per use may also factor into a material resource.
A fixed duration type task for a material resource might be applicable but generally not. A material resource is consumed over whatever span of time it is needed/used, generally in conjunction with a work type resource (i.e. backhoe using fuel).
John
