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Forward Pass

Forward Pass

Scheduling Terms Reviewed by forProject Technology - updated Sep 2026
Quick definition: The Forward Pass is the schedule calculation that works forward from the project start date, following the links between tasks, to determine the earliest each task can start and finish.

The Forward Pass starts at the project start date and moves through the schedule one task at a time, following the dependencies that link each task to the next. A task's Early Start Date is set by the finish of the tasks that must come before it, and its Early Finish Date is that Early Start Date plus the task's duration. Where several tasks must finish first, the latest of them governs. The final Early Finish Date is the earliest the project can complete if everything goes to plan. Lags, leads, task Working Calendars, and constraints all affect the result, which is why a Forward Pass is only as trustworthy as the schedule logic behind it.

Why it matters

The Forward Pass produces every early date in the schedule, which is the basis for judging whether the plan can meet its required dates at all. Because the calculation is performed by the scheduling software, the scheduler's real job is making sure the durations, logic, Working Calendars, and constraints feeding it are sound — bad inputs produce precise, confident, and wrong dates.

Also known as
N/A
Used in
Critical Path Method (CPM) schedule calculation; Early Start Date and Early Finish Date determination; Total Float calculation

FAQ

What does the Forward Pass actually calculate?
The Early Start Date and Early Finish Date for every task, working from the project start date forward through each dependency in turn.
Does the Forward Pass identify the Critical Path?
Not on its own. The Forward Pass produces the early dates; the Critical Path only emerges once the Backward Pass supplies the late dates and Total Float is calculated from the difference between them.
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