The Baseline Finish fields show the planned completion date for a task or assignment at the time you saved a baseline (baseline plan: The original project plans [up to 11 per project] used to track progress on a project. The baseline plan is a snapshot of your schedule at the time that you save the baseline and includes information about tasks, resources, and assignments.). No information is actually displayed in the Baseline Finish resource field; it merely makes the corresponding Baseline Finish assignment field information available.
There are several categories of Baseline Finish fields.
Data Type Date (date field: A type of field whose content is a date. Examples include the Baseline Start and Early Finish fields.)
Baseline Finish (task field)
Entry Type Calculated or entered (calculated or entered field: A field in which the value is determined by Project based on information in other fields. Information that you enter in the field yourself overrides calculated values.)
How Calculated As soon as a baseline is saved, the value in the scheduled finish date for the task at that point in time is copied as the value of the Baseline Finish field.
Best Uses Add the Baseline Finish field to a task sheet when you want to compare baseline finish dates to scheduled or actual finish dates for tasks.
Example You set the baseline for your project a month ago. At that time, the "Develop estimate" task was scheduled to finish on January 13. The task was actually completed on January 18. In the Task Sheet view, you add the Baseline Finish and Actual Finish fields. The Baseline Finish field for this task contains January 13, and the Actual Finish field contains January 18.
Remarks The Baseline Finish field contains "NA" until you save a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. Setting the baseline copies the currently scheduled fields for tasks into the corresponding baseline fields.
You can use the Tracking Gantt view to see the baseline finish date shown with baseline Gantt bars. You can also use the Variance table to compare baseline dates with scheduled dates and actual dates.
Baseline Finish (resource field)
Baseline Finish (assignment field)
Entry Type Calculated or entered (calculated or entered field: A field in which the value is determined by Project based on information in other fields. Information that you enter in the field yourself overrides calculated values.)
How Calculated As soon as a baseline is saved, the date in the Finish field for the assignment is copied as the value of the assignment Baseline Finish field.
Best Uses Add the Baseline Finish field to the Task Usage or Resource Usage view when you want to compare baseline finish dates to scheduled or actual finish dates for assignments.
Example You set the baseline for your project a month ago. Jamie was assigned to the "Develop estimate" task, which at that time was scheduled to finish on January 13. Jamie completed the assignment on January 18. In the Task Usage view, you add the Baseline Finish and Actual Finish fields. The Baseline Finish field for Jamie's assignment contains January 13, and the Actual Finish field contains January 18.
Remarks The Baseline Finish field contains "NA" until you save a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. Setting a baseline copies the currently scheduled fields for tasks and assignments into the corresponding baseline fields.
