Worksheet for Calculating Critical Path and Float

Project Name: <Project Name>

Project Manager: <Name>
Date: <MM/DD/YYYY>

Task Duration Earliest Start Earliest Finish Latest Start Latest Finish
gantthead.com Worksheet for Calculating Critical Path and Float

Instructions:

1. We highly recommend that you take advantage of project management software that will do this for you, should you need
more space for tasks than the above worksheet provides.

2. Start by listing the tasks and estimated task durations on this worksheet.

3. Make a forward pass through the project schedule by calculating the earliest starting number for each task. The earliest
start is the number of duration days at the point at which all precedent activities before it in the path have been satisfied.
The first task begins on Day 0. Assume that each subsequent task begins after the finish of the preceding activity:

Earliest start = least number of days from the beginning of a project before it can begin

1. Calculate the earliest finish number for each task. To do this, add the task duration (as number of days) to the earliest
start number:

Earliest finish = earliest start number + task duration number

1. Make the backward pass through the project schedule by calculating the latest finish number for each task. The latest
finish is the last day a task can be performed without changing the end date of the project. Calculate this by first noting the
largest number in the earliest finish column. This number is the total number of days in the project. Assign this number to
the last task in the project and subtract the duration from the number of duration days in the path. To calculate latest
finish, you work backwards from the last day of the project.

2. Calculate the latest start number for each task. The latest start is the last day in a project that a task can begin and still be
finished without affecting the end date of the project. Determine the latest start date by this formula: Latest finish –
duration = latest start number.

3. Determine the total float for each task by making the following calculation: Total float = latest finish – earliest start –
duration

4. Tasks with zero float are on the critical path.

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