Oftentimes people want to plan a project from the finish date and manage it from the start date. The benefit of doing so is that the project manager can flag the tasks with critical goal dates using deadlines and will be able to manage the project to achieve the goal dates. Here’s how.

To plan the project from the ending date, follow these steps:

1. Go to Project | Project Information.
2. Set the plan to Schedule from Project Finish Date.
3. Enter the finish date for the project. (I’d add a few days for cushion if possible.)
4. Enter tasks, relationships, etc. to build the project schedule.
5. Mark milestones (or key tasks) with a deadline.

To manage the project from the start date:

1. Go to Project | Project Information.
2. Set the plan to Schedule from Project Start Date.
3. Enter the start date.
4. The last step is to remove the “As Late as Possible” task constraint for all tasks. Select all tasks by clicking in the box above the task numbers on the left side of the view.
5. Click on Task | Information | Advance tab.
6. Change all constraints to “As Soon as Possible” and click OK.

Image courtesy of Andrew Hurley — CC 2.0