Project task form

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 6 minutes to read
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    Summary of Project task form

    The Project Task form in ServiceNow, available when Project Portfolio Management is active and the Project form is in Basic view, allows users to manage detailed information about individual project tasks. This form includes fields for task identification, scheduling, status tracking, assignments, and notes, enabling effective project task management and monitoring.

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    Key Features

    • Identification and Description: Includes system-generated task numbers, short and detailed descriptions, and status indicators that update automatically based on planned end dates with configurable color-coded alerts (green, yellow, red).
    • Status Management: Task status updates daily via a scheduled job but can be manually overridden. Status changes do not roll up to parent tasks or the overall project status.
    • Assignment Controls: Tasks can be assigned to users or groups, filtered by assignment groups or required skills, ensuring appropriate resource allocation.
    • Progress Tracking: Fields such as percent complete, actual and planned effort, and durations provide insight into task progress and resource usage.
    • Scheduling Flexibility: Supports off-schedule tasks that can start or end outside of the defined project working hours or days, accommodating real-world scheduling needs.
    • Time Constraints: Allows specifying when tasks should start with options like Start ASAP, Start on Specific Date, Start no earlier than, and Start no later than, supporting various project planning scenarios.
    • State Rollups: The task state (e.g., Open, Work in Progress, Closed Complete) rolls up from child to parent tasks automatically, aiding in status aggregation at higher project levels.
    • Notes and Checklist: Users can add activity notes, work comments, and track task-specific checklists to manage milestones, impediments, and required completion items.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging the Project Task form, ServiceNow customers can precisely define, schedule, assign, and track project tasks within their project portfolio. The automatic status updates with configurable thresholds help proactively manage task deadlines, while manual overrides provide flexibility. Assignment restrictions ensure that only qualified users are assigned, enhancing accountability. The detailed scheduling features, including off-schedule task support and time constraints, enable accurate project planning reflecting real work conditions. Additionally, notes and checklists facilitate communication and task completion tracking.

    Overall, this form supports comprehensive task-level management that integrates into broader project tracking and reporting, helping customers maintain control and visibility over their projects.

    Learn about the fields of project task form. The fields appear when the Project Portfolio Management is active and the Project form is in the Basic view. Configure the form to display the fields.

    Table 1. Project Task form
    Field Description
    Short description Brief description of the project task.
    Number System-generated number with a configurable prefix.
    Status

    Status of the project task.

    The status updates automatically based on the difference of the planned end date of the task from the current date. The color of the status changes as the planned end date approaches:
    • Green: The planned end date for the project task is more than the offset working days that you defined.
    • Yellow: The planned end date for the project task is less than the offset working days that you defined.
    • Red: The planned end date for the project task is past the offset working days that you defined.
    The default offset for status calculation is 3 working days. You can update the com.snc.ppm.yellow_status_duration property to change the offset duration. Your project schedule determines the working days.
    Important:
    The status of the project task does not affect the overall status of the project, meaning the project task status does not roll up to the project. Also, the status of the child tasks does not affect the status of the parent task.

    Execute the Update Active Project Task Status scheduled job to update the status of your existing tasks. This scheduled job runs daily by default, however you can execute this job on demand also.

    If you do not want the status of a task to update automatically, you can change the status of the task manually. Changing the status manually, overrides the automatic update and the execution of the scheduled job does not change the status of the project task.

    Note:
    Configure the property com.snc.status_process_planned_task_entities to include or exclude task types for automatic status updates.
    Override status Indicates if the project task status is updated manually. By default, this check box is deselected. When you change the Status field manually, this check box becomes selected.
    State Current state of the project. The states include: Pending, Open, Work in Progress, Closed Complete, Closed Incomplete, Closed Skipped.

    The state is automatically rolled up from the project tasks. For more information, see Project calculation and Parent-child rollup task calculations.
    Description Detailed description of the project task.
    Assigned to User assigned to the project task. The following conditions apply:
    • If an assignment group is defined, only users in the assignment group appear in the lookup list.
    • If skills are defined, only users with those skills appear in the lookup list.
    • If no assignment groups or skills are defined, only users with one of the Project Management application user roles appear in the lookup list.
    • Users with timecard_user role also appear in the lookup list.
    Assignment group User group assigned to the project task.
    Additional assignee list Additional users assigned to the project task.
    Percent complete Percentage of the work that has been completed for the project task.
    Table 2. Details tab
    Field Description
    Milestone Option for converting the task to a milestone.
    Key milestone Option for converting the task to a key milestone.
    Allow dates outside schedule Indicates whether the project task is set to start and end on a non-schedule day (outside regular project schedule) such as on a weekend. An off-schedule task can start any time during the day and on any day of the week.

    For example, if you use the project schedule Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00 and a project task of duration 2 days should start on Saturday, then an off-schedule task is allowed to be scheduled on Saturday and end on Sunday. Similarly, if a task of duration 3 days starts on Friday, then an off-schedule will end on Sunday instead of ending on Tuesday.

    The option is not enabled for a parent task. The value of this field on the parent task is derived from the child tasks.

    Note:
    • There is no difference between an off-schedule and an on-schedule task if there is no schedule defined at the project.
    • 1 day is 8 hours for a task in regular schedule and 24 hours for a task outside schedule.
    Table 3. Dates tab
    Field Description
    Planned start date Estimated date and time for the project task to start. You can edit this date when the Time constraint is Start on Specific Date, Start no earlier than, or Start no later than.

    If the constraint type is Start ASAP or Start no later than, changing the planned start date for a task changes the constraint type to Start no earlier than.
    Planned end date Estimated date and time for the project task to end.

    For a manual project, any update to the actual start date does not update the planned end date of the project task. Enable the project property Enable alter of planned date with Actual for Manual Project to update planned end date from the actual start date and planned duration.
    Planned duration Estimated length of time (from start time to end time) of the project task.
    Planned effort Estimate of how much time it will take to complete this task. After you add child tasks, this field becomes read-only, rolls-up calculation and overwrites any earlier entry that you made.
    Constraint date A read-only field that determines the start date for tasks with Start no earlier than, Start no later than, and Start on specific date constraints. Use the Move project related link to change this date. For more information, see Change the planned start date of a project.
    Original start date Original planned date and time for the task to start.
    Actual start date Date on which the project task started. The task is set to Work in Progress when the actual start date is populated.

    When you change the State or Percent complete of the task, the actual dates are auto-populated with the date component copied from the planned dates.

    When you populate the actual start and end dates, the time component in actual dates is defaulted to the date component in planned dates when the derive time component from planned dates field on Project form is set to True.
    Actual end date Date on which the project task ended. The task is set to Closed Complete when the actual end date is populated.
    Actual duration Duration of the task from task start to task closure. As with planned duration, the actual duration shows total task time.
    Actual effort Actual number of hours charged from the resources on this project task. If you are using the Time Card Management application, the value for the field comes from the application automatically. The application calculates the actual effort on the task by taking the total time worked from all approved time cards of all resources who worked on the task.
    Time constraint When the project task begins:
    • Start ASAP: The task starts as soon as possible as determined by the relationships and dependencies. The dates for these tasks are derived from the constraint date of the project.
    • Start on specific date: The task starts on a date that you specify. The task dependencies are not considered for date calculation.
    • Start no earlier than: The task starts on or after the constraint date.
    • Start no later than: The task starts on or before the constraint date. The start date is determined by the relationships and dependencies.
    Note:
    If the Calculation field on the Project form is set to Manual, you cannot change the constraint type for such projects. To change the constraint type, change the project to Automatic.
    Original end date Original planned date and time for the task to end.
    Table 4. Notes tab
    Field Description
    Activity / Work notes / Additional comments Information about the milestones, impediments, or changes as the project progresses. Enter notes or comments in the Activity field and click Additional comments or Work notes. The text appears in the feed.
    Table 5. Checklist tab
    Field Description
    Checklist Checklist to track items that must be completed for the task.