Looking to set a Date Field based on contents of another field.

We have a sheet with a list field identifying the target fiscal year and quarter that we want an activity to start eg. FY 23 Q1, FY 23 Q2 etc.

This sheet also has been set up to work as a Gantt view with Start, Finish, and Duration as well.

I'd like to set the start date automatically based on the contents of the FY/Q field. I.E> When the contents of the FY/Q field are set to FY 23 Q1, the Start field is set to 10/1/2022 (October start of FY).

Is this possible? If so how so?

Thanks in advance,

Hudson

Best Answers

  • Genevieve P.
    Genevieve P. Employee
    Answer ✓

    Hi @Hudson_TMR

    This is possible as long as you do not have Dependencies enabled in your Project settings, and are only using the Start/End dates to have a visual in Gantt.

    See: Areas where formula use is restricted

    If you're not using predecessors / dependencies, then you could write an IF statement that outputs a date based on your FY Quarter column:

    =IF([FY/Q]@row = "FY 23 Q1", DATE(2022, 10, 01), IF([FY/Q]@row = "FY 23 Q2", DATE(2023, 01, 01)...

    To have your End Date automatically calculate based on this Start Date, you'll want to use the WORKDAY Function. I would personally have the Duration column be a manual number input, then use this in the WORKDAY function to find the End Date, like so:

    =WORKDAY([Start Date]@row, Duration@row)

    Cheers,

    Genevieve

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  • Hudson_TMR
    Hudson_TMR ✭✭
    Answer ✓

    Genevieve-

    Thank you for the response. I had not processed that there may be a work around to lift the dependencies off the sheet to make it work. I'll give it a shot.

    Appreciate the help.


    Cheers,

    Hud

Answers

  • Genevieve P.
    Genevieve P. Employee
    Answer ✓

    Hi @Hudson_TMR

    This is possible as long as you do not have Dependencies enabled in your Project settings, and are only using the Start/End dates to have a visual in Gantt.

    See: Areas where formula use is restricted

    If you're not using predecessors / dependencies, then you could write an IF statement that outputs a date based on your FY Quarter column:

    =IF([FY/Q]@row = "FY 23 Q1", DATE(2022, 10, 01), IF([FY/Q]@row = "FY 23 Q2", DATE(2023, 01, 01)...

    To have your End Date automatically calculate based on this Start Date, you'll want to use the WORKDAY Function. I would personally have the Duration column be a manual number input, then use this in the WORKDAY function to find the End Date, like so:

    =WORKDAY([Start Date]@row, Duration@row)

    Cheers,

    Genevieve

    Join us at Smartsheet ENGAGE 2024 🎉
    October 8 - 10, Seattle, WA | Register now

  • Hudson_TMR
    Hudson_TMR ✭✭
    Answer ✓

    Genevieve-

    Thank you for the response. I had not processed that there may be a work around to lift the dependencies off the sheet to make it work. I'll give it a shot.

    Appreciate the help.


    Cheers,

    Hud

  • Decided to make a separate sheet with the values of FY and Q and the associated dates and use VLookup instead of nested IF's. Works like a charm.

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