During a schedule verification review of a contractor’s Microsoft Project file, a subtle data-entry error can quietly invalidate your entire project forecast. The Red Flag in the Data Look at the task parameters from this progress update: Planned Dates: 20 May '26 – 24 Jun '26 (Duration: 25 days) % Complete: 15% But when looking at the Project Status date: Status Date: 13/08/26 (13 August 2026) The Gantt chart bar ends cleanly in June 2026, while the blue Status Date line sits nearly two months ahead in mid-August. If this 25-day activity is only 15% complete, the remaining 85% of the unfinished work is in the past. Why This Corrupts Schedule Integrity Impossible Forecasts: Time moves in one direction. MS Project will calculate remaining work as if it occurred back in June/July, failing to forecast when the task will actually finish. Artificial Float: The task shows 171 days of Total Slack because the uncompleted duration has not pushed successor links forward. Downstream delays remain completely invisible. Distorted Resource & Cash Curves: Remaining hours and associated costs remain assigned to past calendar months, corrupting Earned Value Management (EVM) metrics How to Fix It in Microsoft Project: - Make a filter to see if there are in progress tasks that have the finish before the status date. - Push Incomplete Work Forward: Go to Project > Update Project, select Reschedule uncompleted work to start after:, and choose the Status Date. (This moves the remaining of the task into the active project future. @planners: Do you receive contractor schedules that are reported as updated but inside there are "forgotten" updates? https://www.linkedin.com/posts/virgil-andrei-14943a30_the-15-complete-trap-during-a-schedule-share-7495953576532418562-3M0b/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAZ4p0kBPTsKzcJA23Xdrd_RwhPAZoX8sL4