Calculating Project Schedule by Deadline in Wrike

Casey Shew Updated by Casey Shew

In most cases when setting up a new project plan in Wrike based on a template, you will be setting a start date and letting the template auto calculate the projected due date based on all of the task predecessors and durations. However in some cases, you may want to instead set the date that the project must be completed by, and have the template autocalculate when all of the tasks in the project need to get done by based on their durations and predecessors, in order to meet that overall project deadline. This article explains how to set up the project plan to calculate based on the due date of the project, rather than the start date.

Calculating a Schedule by Due Date for a New Project

Most of the steps for setting up a project to calculate its schedule based on the due date are the same as those described in the article Creating Course Projects in Wrike, with the difference being in Step 9 of the process where you actually create the new projects. When doing the 3rd step of step 9, check the "Reschedule" box as you would normally, only in this case instead of selecting the "Set start date" radio button, instead select "Set end date". Set the date specified there to be the due date for when the project must be completed by, and after clicking "Create" the project's schedule will be constructed and calcululated based off of that end date. All task due dates will be set for when they must be completed in order to meet the overall project due date, based on their durations and predecessors configured.

Calculating a Schedule by Due Date for an Existing Project

In some cases, you may need to re-calculate a project's schedule based on the project's due date after the project has already been created in Wrike. This may be because the due date changed, or it just wasn't known when the project was created. In these cases, the above approach will not meet the need and a different approach is required. In these scenarios, you should take the following steps to recalculate the project's schedule based on its overall due date:

  1. Open the project plan
  2. Take note of the due date for the last task that will be completed in the project
  3. Calculate the distance between the current projected due date of the last task in the project, and when it actually needs to be completed by
  4. Once you've determined the distance in days between the current projection and the required due date, convert this into a number of weeks of distance
  5. Go into the "List" view
  6. Click this icon:
  7. Click "Select All"
  8. In the sidebar on the right, select "Advanced Scheduling"
  9. Select "Shift dates"
  10. Set the number of weeks or months you need to move the schedule back or forward by based on your calculation earlier
  11. Click "Reschedule", and allow it a couple of minutes to process and recalculate the dates (there is sometimes a lag and you need to refresh to see the updated dates.

Taking these steps will adjust all the tasks start and due dates accordingly in order to meet your required due date, based on their durations and predecessors. Below is a GIF demonstrating the steps above.

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