Patent ID: 8160911

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for creating a top down project plan, the method comprising: receiving information entered by a user associated with a summary task comprising subtasks; determining by a processor executing code stored on a computer-readable medium whether a summary task's start date, finish date, or duration fields contain user-entered information; when at least one, but no more than two of a summary task's start date, finish date, or duration fields contain user-entered information, determining a schedule of planned dates for the summary task utilizing summary task information entered by the user in addition to calculated roll-up dates of the summary task's subtask information; determining when a summary task's calculated roll-up dates contradict planned dates; when a task's calculated roll-up dates contradict planned dates, preserving the user-entered planned dates; and displaying the determined summary task schedule in the corresponding fields of the project plan; wherein when all three of a summary task's start date, finish date, or duration fields contain user-entered information, preserving the user-entered planned dates; identifying differences between the planned dates and the roll-up dates of the summary task's subtasks when differences exist; and displaying an indication of whether a task contains planned dates or when the task contains roll-up dates.