Dependency Settings

Jaeven

My sheets manage projects with tasks both applied to my team and the client. I have set the critical path on the project yet i would like to make that auto extend time (moving the following tasks start date) should the 'complete' column not be checked instead of manually moving the duration indicator.

Has anyone managed a solution to this issue as of yet?

Isaac Jose

Hello,

Thanks for your post, it sounds like you'd like In Progress tasks to automatically increase in duration based on the Complete checkbox. There isn't a way to do this, but you can submit a product enhancement request with the quick link to the right.

I recommend adding an "Actual Finish Date" column  and a "Finish Date Variance" column to your sheet. In the Finish Date Variance column, enter the formula =[Actual Finish Date]@row- [Finish Date]@row. With this, you can create a conditional formatting rule that says, "When Finish Date Variance is greater than 0, format this row with a red background color" so that you can easily locate and edit the rows that need duration adjustments. If you don't want to apply conditional formatting, you could try creating a filter instead.

If needed, you can also enter a formula in your Complete checkbox that checks the checkbox when the Actual Finish Date is entered, =IF(ISDATE([Actual Finish Date]@row), 1, 0).

You'll want to instruct your users to mark items as complete by entering an Actual Finish Date rather than selecting the checkbox for this process to operate smoothly. I've included some related resources below:

• Create Efficient Formulas with @cell and @row
• Create and Edit Formulas in Smartsheet: Areas Where Formula Use is Restricted
• Project Sheet Columns: Start Date, End Date, Duration, % Complete

I hope this helps!

Kind regards,

Isaac J

Smartsheet Support