Custom duration and date fields in MS PROJECT 2013

Here is a question form one of my Blog Readers:

“I have another possible bug in MSP 2013. Try this one
Insert Date1, Insert Duration1, Insert Date2. Now go to custom fields and make date2 a formula [(date1)+(duration1). The obvious answer would be a new date, but this is what I get.

Date1 Durat Date2
Tue 7/8/14 0d Tue 7/8/14
Tue 7/8/14 1d Sat 10/31/15
Tue 7/8/14 2d Wed 2/22/17
Tue 7/8/14 3d Sun 6/17/18
Tue 7/8/14 4d Thu 10/10/19
Tue 7/8/14 5d Mon 2/1/21

it seems to move almost 14 months.

Got any ideas on how to make this work?”

It is not a bug, but might confuse you. I’ll show you how it works in MS PROJECT 2013!

I will repeat steps like above:

I will add custom fields:

and I will put same dates in Date1 field, and same durations in Duration1 fields:

I will create formula for Date2 field:

and I will get:

Strange, isn’t it? BUT! I will change Duration1 field with minutes:

It looks fine now. Why? Because Duration1 field is filled with 480 minutes per day. So when you put 1 day it is interpreted as 480 days! So to get right value in Date2, I should rearrange formula like this:

and I will get:

But if I want to consider my Project Calendar I can use this function:

and then:

and I will get:

Notice that Date 2 is same as Finish date. Of course, you can rename Duration field and call it, for example, pessimistic duration, and put different values than in Duration field.

Hope this helps.

Regards!

About Nenad Trajkovski

Location: Zagreb, Croatia Occupation: Project Manager Interests: Project Management and MS PROJECT He was born in Zagreb, Croatia at 1963. After completing his college he started working on projects in different business areas (banking, manufacturing, automotive industry, distribution, oil companies, etc.) developing and implementing ERP systems into different companies. He has got a lot of experience working with people in different business processes and also possesses great knowledge in information technologies and financial services. Today he works as a business consultant, adn Project Manager in PERPETUUM MOBILE d.o.o. Zagreb. He is a regular lecturer for Project Management in MS Innovation Center in Varaždin, Logosoft Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina and SEAVUS GROUP in Skopje Macedonia. He was named the best lecturer of WINDAYS 2008 while his lecture was also voted as the best. In addition, he was in TOP 10 lecturers at the MS SINERGY 2009 and MS VISIA 2009, 2010. Shares first place as the best lecturer of KulenDays 2009 and 2010 and PMI Conference 2009 in Zagreb. He is also a regular lecturer in the MS Community. He is a Certified Accountant and a PMP (Project Manager Professional) and a PMI-RMP (Risk Manager Professional), MCP, MCT, and Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist - Microsoft Project 2010. From 01.01.2012 awarded with MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Proffesional - Microsoft Project)!

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4 Responses to Custom duration and date fields in MS PROJECT 2013

Abeer says:

September 18, 2017 at 2:35 pm

I need more that 10 date fields in MS Project, how can I add date 11, date 12, …and so on?

- Nenad Trajkovski says:
  
  October 7, 2017 at 3:33 pm
  
  You can not unless you are using Project Server
  
appetite suppressants for cats says:

September 29, 2014 at 7:53 am

I am not certain the place you’re getting your info, but great topic.

I must spend a while finding out much more or understanding more.
Thanks for excellent information I was looking for this information for my mission.

Michael Belfry says:

August 6, 2014 at 1:45 pm

Great solution, Nenad… and the fact that the ProjDateAdd() function accounts for working hours in the specified calendar means the calculated finish date will always be accurate.