The Baseline Finish fields show the planned completion date for a task or assignment at the time you saved a baseline. 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
Baseline Finish (task field)
Entry Type Calculated or entered
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)
Entry Type Null
Best Uses Add the Baseline Finish field to the Resource Usage view when you want to display or filter baseline finish dates for assignments.
Example You set the baseline for your project a month ago. You add the Baseline Finish field to the Resource Usage view. No information appears in the Baseline Finish field next to the resource names. However, the baseline finish dates for their assignments appear in the Baseline Finish assignment fields below each resource name.
Baseline Finish (assignment field)
Entry Type Calculated or entered
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.
