Hi @michaelsmn ,
Thanks for the great question. Unfortunately, there's no way to fully lock down the "Actual Start Date" and "Actual Completion Date" system fields through native permissions or access levels. Users with Manage or Contribute access can still manually update those fields.
As you;ve seen, however, this can really skew reports and the project Actual Start Date data. Here are a few things that might help:
Use Business Rules to Guide Behavior
Business Rules can show warnings and restrict the editing of actual start dates. One example is that you can restrict an update of the field to a date older than last week by using wildcards. These are like guide rails and you can learn more about them here: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/workfront/using/administration-and-setup/set-up-wf/configure-system-defaults/business-rules
Introduce Custom Fields for Manual Tracking
Since you are hiding the system fields, you can introduce custom fields that allow users to make updates that do not affect the true system fields. You could add custom fields like “User Reported Start Date” and “User Reported Completion Date” to your task custom form. This keeps the real system-calculated actuals clean for reporting, while still collecting what users think the dates should be.
Automation via Fusion (Advanced)
If you have access to Fusion, you can create a scenario to monitor edits to system fields and either notify an admin, log the change, or revert the update based on rules.
If you need help implementing one of these changes, we recommend working with our consulting team. You can speak to your Account Executive about booking any time with them. If you have any more general questions, feel free to open a Support case.
- Nathan Johnson
