Hello @Carlton_Hoy, welcome to the Asana Community Forum!
Metadata fields might be very helpful in this case as one field is “completed on”
Have a look here: Tasks Metadata now appear as Custom Fields within your Project or Users in custom fields (Created by) - #26
Hello there,
Is there a reason to not allow completed date to be editable? With the amount of requests asking for it, it just seems like a simple feature to implement.
Relying on a custom field just seems like a workaround to me, as that would now just be an additional field that needs to be maintained. Unless the “Completed on” meta field is updated when the checkmark is checked, but I don’t see those toggle-able meta fields in the UI, only the ability to add a custom field.
Thanks!
Welcome to the Asana Community Forum @Christopher_Peterson 
“Is there a reason to not allow completed date to be editable?”
Yes Asana has implemented these fields to have some specific data that is pulled based on real actions. It would not really make sense if people then amend the data so it is not actually based on when something happened.
“Unless the “Completed on” meta field is updated when the checkmark is checked”
Whenever you mark a task complete it will show the relevant completion date in this metadata field
“don’t see those toggle-able meta fields in the UI”
In list view go to “Hide” from where you can select which fields to show and which not.
Thank you, I just realized that you responded to this.
Completely agree! When switching to Asana, we imported several datapoints that were already completed but have no way of backdating these completed points in Asana when analyzing our completion rates, so its quite frustrating to have incorrect data within the system.
Insane that this functionality isn’t included. (1), because it’s something that could easily be turned “on” or “off” from an admin standpoint if a user truly didn’t want the field editable, and (2) you’re now PERMANENTLY logging a completed on date, based on when the user REMEMBERS to tick the completed button. A lot of us work head down and the days get away from us. I use Asana regularly but might forget to tick something as complete (gasp). So Asana is essentially now punishing users for forgetting to tick something, instead of making this customizable or at least an option? So Asana gives you “completed on” dates that are indicative ONLY of when someone physically ticked the box, versus when it was truly completed…which renders the functionality for some, entirely useless.
Andrea - I think the issue I’m having is that you say in response to “Is there a reason to not allow completed date to be editable?” that “Yes Asana has implemented these fields to have some specific data that is pulled based on real actions. It would not really make sense if people then amend the data so it is not actually based on when something happened.”
You say it doesn’t make sense for the data to not actually be based on when something happened but that’s exactly what’s happening to us. If I complete a task, then forget to mark it complete, and hit complete a week later, that’s inaccurate data and Asana isn’t giving us an option to fix it.
Like others in this thread I’m really shocked this isn’t resolved.
Another vote for an editable field. I’m using Asana to keep of my own tasks and I update it as and when, not daily, not on completion of a task. I’m now hiding the completed date and using the due date as both a due & completed date.
I’m big on tracking data for the team, and this makes it impossible for any reporting to be accurate. Please add this feature.
Would creating a custom date field (which is editable) and using rules to auto-set that upon task completion solve your need? It would basically simulate the native completion date field but be editable. If you’re on a plan that limits your rule actions, this might be a challenge.
I personally don’t think the native field should be editable, as that undermines the whole point of having system-generate fields/data.
Another vote for being able to amend completion dates - I’m currently having to go through a backlog of completed tasks to add subtasks to provide better reporting data.
Thankfully, I can use the due date as one part of the criteria in my Dashboard charts - but the completion date in the new subtasks I’m creating to provide a more detailed picture for my boss’s boss is waaay off.
Please just make the “completion date” field viewable and editable by users.
A project manager in my organization, accidentally flipped a ton of tasks from completed to incomplete when they were batch editing, they then marked them all completed again, and now the completion date for all of those tasks has been reset to todays date.
This has fully broken the data on my dashboard, because it has pulled a bunch of tasks that were completed in Q1 into now looking like they were completed in Q2.
I am having this issue as well. Without a way to either lock or change editing permissions for a specific task, the ability to undo someone’s mistaken actions around the completed on field is critical to accurate reporting.
Please make this feature available. If we create tasks that have occurred in the past we would like the ability to display the accurate date on which they were completed.
Another reason for this feature is this pressing email:
Action Required: “Personal Projects” space will be discontinued
I tried to migrate to a workspace from my “Personal Projects”, and I can’t keep neither the completion status nor the completion date. There has to be a better way?
This solution does not solve the problem of having a field with the actual completed date. If you do not want to change the auto populated field, what is the resistance to adding a second field for manager reporting where individuals can back date to the date it was actually completed?
Welcome, @Michele_Whyte,
You can do this now by adding an “Actual Date Completed” date-type custom field. And if desired, a rule could even populate that field when the task is marked complete with that date, which you could override as desired, and also set access rights to it, depending on your Asana plan level.
Thanks,
Larry
Thank you does it require a certain plan level to add that custom field? This is a basic request in so many people have asked for it. I would imagine it doesn’t. Please send me the steps on how to do it appreciate the information.
Thany you
All paid Asana plans offer the custom field feature.
There are many ways to learn how to use custom fields, so start with help.asana.com, AI chat in Asana, google, etc.
Thanks,
Larry
Adding another voice to the call for this to be editable, even if only at an admin level.
Custom fields is not workable at the scale my organisation uses Asana, and really shouldn’t be a requirement when it’s just a workaround for the current field net being able to handle a pretty common case of someone not being able to click the button at the very moment that something happens in the real world.