Latest Update: 9-4-2026

When managing various activities of a project, you have to monitor their status, including whether they are in progress or completed, their actual start, actual finish, and remaining duration. If an activity deviates from the plan, you can edit the actual start and end dates to establish progress and compare it to the baseline plan.

Prior to making any changes or updates, best practice is to create a new version of your schedule. This will allow you to revert back and compare to previous versions, so you can track changes in your schedule over time.

Navigate to the Version screen and create a new version of the schedule. Make sure to give it an appropriate name and description. For further help on creating a new version of your schedule, please visit the help article here.

Once inside the new version, change the Data Date to reflect the latest data date of the project. The data date is the "as of" date of the schedule. Expected finish dates and remaining durations will be calculated based on the data date.

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Navigate to the top center of the screen and open the project information dialogue box

Note: Data Date in Planera is the beginning of the day. For more information on the data date, read here and here.

This will provide a simple list, in logical order, of activities that need to be updated. You can use this in any view (canvas, table, or Gantt). You can sort and filter the update list based on your WBS or any codes you've assigned in your schedule.

Note: From the Progress Update List, you'll be able to create a new version or update the data date if you have not already done so.

From the Progress Update List, choose between updating scheduled work leading up to the Data Date or work with planned start dates after the Data Date.

Add additional weeks using the Lookahead tool in the Progress Update List.

If your project has codes assigned to activities, you can filter the Progress Update List to show only activities that match a specific code value.

Use the filter option in the panel to select any code from your project, such as Responsibility or Location. The list updates to show only elements with the assigned code.

Note: To clear the filter, click on the custom code drop down and select "All".

Progress updates can be filtered to a specific Group or WBS, allowing project team members to focus updates on one area of the schedule at a time rather than managing the full project at once.

If you are utilizing the collaborator role on your project, users can filter down to just the elements they own to provide progress updates.

Update Activity Status in all three schedule views: Canvas, Table, and Gantt.

Note: Percent complete will be automatically calculated based on the remaining duration. If you complete Expected Finish, Remaining Duration will calculate based on data date (and vice versa).

Note: When you set an activity's status to Complete from the Progress Update List and click Save, the activity stays in the list (shown as complete) rather than disappearing. This lets you confirm the update and reopen the activity if you need to change it before scheduling. To remove the activity from your update list, click on it and select confirm.

Note: Closing out of a progress update without saving will show this warning.

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To finalize the schedule update, click the 'Schedule' button (top right) or press F9.

You may receive a dialogue box asking you to move activities to the data date "now" or "later". To learn more about move now vs move later, refer to this article.

Note: A good rule of thumb is select to Keep current dates while you are still working on your update. Select Move to the Data Date when you are done with your update and all elements without updates that remain do not require a status change (work did not happen as planned).

If your organization has purchased Manny, when you complete your progress update you'll see options for various insights Manny can provide. Clicking "Run with Manny" will open a new chat for each report that is selected.

How is percent complete calculated?
Percent complete is calculated automatically based on remaining duration. If you enter the expected finish date instead, remaining duration is calculated from that and the data date, and percent complete follows from there.

Why does a completed activity still show up in the Progress Update list?
When you mark an activity Complete from the Progress Update list, it stays in the list but shows as complete, rather than disappearing. This lets you confirm the update and reopen the activity if you need to change it before scheduling.

What's the difference between the Progress Updates tool and using a filter?
The Progress Updates tool gives you a ready-made list of activities to review in logical order, and works in any view. Creating a filter (activities on or before the data date, status not Completed) gives you the same set of activities but lets you customize the criteria yourself.

What does the data date actually control?
The data date is the "as of" date for the schedule. Expected finish dates and remaining durations are calculated relative to it, so updating it before you start logging progress keeps those calculations accurate.

Do I need to update activity status in Canvas, Table, and Gantt separately?
No. Activity status is shared across all three views, you can update it from whichever view you're working in (right-click an activity, use the Progress Status icon, or edit the Status column in Table).

What happens when I click Schedule after updating progress?
The schedule recalculates based on your updates. You may be prompted to choose between moving remaining activities to the data date "now" or "later", which determines how not started work shifts relative to today.