Duration Percent Complete
Scheduling Terms
Reviewed by forProject Technology - updated Sep 2026
Quick definition: Duration Percent Complete is the percentage of a task's planned Duration that has passed as of the status date, calculated as working days completed divided by total working days in the Duration.
For example, if 5 of a task's 10 working days have passed at the status date, Duration Percent Complete is 50% — regardless of how much work has actually been accomplished. It is measured against the task's working calendar, so non-working days do not count. This makes it a time-based measure, distinct from Physical Percent Complete, which assesses actual accomplishment.
Why it matters
Duration Percent Complete is useful for Critical Path scheduling status, but it can be misleading for earned value purposes, since time passing doesn't guarantee proportional physical progress. It is also the figure most scheduling tools report by default, which is why it gets mistaken for a progress measure.
Also known as
Calculated Percent Complete
Used in
Critical Path scheduling status reporting
FAQ
Can Duration Percent Complete be used to calculate Earned Value?
It depends on the effort type. For Discrete Effort, no — earned value should reflect actual accomplishment, not the passage of time. For Level of Effort, the passage of time is precisely the basis for earning value, since LOE has no measurable output.
Why might Duration Percent Complete and actual progress differ?
A task can fall behind or run ahead of its planned pace, so the portion of working time used doesn't necessarily match the portion of work actually completed.
Definition maintained by forProject Technology.
© 2026 forProject Technology, Inc.
© 2026 forProject Technology, Inc.
