## Enter Actual Start and Finish Dates for a Task

Tasks that start or finish late can throw an entire project off schedule by delaying related tasks. Tasks that start or finish early can free resources to work on other tasks that are behind schedule. Because actual task start and finish dates can have such a big impact on your project, they should be your number one tracking priority.

To enter actual start and finish dates for a task

1. On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart .
2. In the Task Name field, select the task you want to update.
3. On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Update Tasks.
4. Under Actual, type the dates in the Start and Finish boxes.

If a number of tasks started and finished on time, you can set the actual start and actual finish information for all of those tasks at once.

To enter actual start and finish dates for several on-time tasks at once

1. On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart .

   Select nonadjacent tasks by holding down Ctrl while you select.

2. In the Task Name field, select the tasks that started and finished on time.
3. On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Update Project.
4. Click Selected tasks.

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