Ready to Start Indicator

Last Modified On: October 6, 2025

**This article has been updated with the changes coming with Inspire Planner's OCT 2025 Major Release, scheduled for deployment to production environments on October 21, 2025.
 

The Ready-to-Start indicator helps you quickly identify which project tasks are ready to begin. A task is marked as Ready-to-Start when all of its dependencies (such as predecessor tasks) have been completed.

This visual cue makes it easier for project managers and team members to focus on tasks that are actionable now—helping to keep the project on track and avoid delays.

Inspire Planner automatically marks a project task as “Ready to Start” when all of its predecessor tasks have been completed.

When you update the status of a predecessor task as shown in the chart above, Inspire Planner automatically creates a Sync Queue record. When the Beacon job runs, it updates the related Project Task and Salesforce Task by setting Ready to Start to TRUE.

The Ready to Start Sync Queue record is created when you update the following:

• Task Status
• Task Type 
• Predecessors
• Predecessor Task Start Date or Finish Date
• Predecessor Task Status

Please note the following:

• Even if the predecessor task’s finish date has passed or the successor task’s start date has arrived, the successor task will not be marked as “Ready to Start” unless the predecessor’s status meets the required conditions outlined in the table above.
   

• If there is no lag between tasks, the successor task will be marked as “Ready to Start” as soon as the predecessor meets the required status conditions—regardless of whether the successor’s start date has been reached.
   

• When there is lag time between dependent tasks, Inspire Planner automatically creates a Sync Queue record to update the schedule at the appropriate time.

  • For Start-to-Start dependencies, the Sync Queue is scheduled to run at the beginning of the day on the task’s Start Date.

  • For Finish-to-Start dependencies, upon update of the Actual Finish Date,

    • If Actual Finish Date < Finish Date then it uses the Actual Finish Date as the Process Date in the Sync Queue record.
    • If Actual Finish Date > Finish Date then it will use Finish Date as the Process Date in the Sync Queue record.
    • If the Finish Date is updated prior to Project Task being Completed, then it will update the Sync Queue Process Date
       

• The Ready to Start checkbox in the Project UI doesn’t update in real time when predecessor task statuses change. To reflect the latest status, wait for the Inspire Planner Beacon to process the Sync Queue record, then manually refresh the page to see the update.

Viewing "Ready to Start" Indicator in the Project Interface

To see the Ready to Start column in the Project UI, simply right-click on any column heading. Then, go to Columns and check the box for "Ready to Start".

Viewing "Ready to Start" Indicator in Salesforce Tasks

As mentioned at the beginning of this help article, when a the status of a task is changed to "Completed", "In Progress", or equivalent, Inspire Planner automatically sets its successor task "Ready to Start" to TRUE for both the Project Task and related Salesforce Task. This section will walk you through how to add the "Ready to Start" checkbox on your Salesforce Tasks.

1. Click on the Gear Icon at the top right corner and go to Setup.
   
   
    
2. Go to Object Manager.
   
   
    
3. Enter "Task" in the Quick Find box at the top right corner and click on Task.
   
   
    
4. Go to Page Layouts.
   
   
    
5. Locate the Task Page Layout you are using then click on the drop down arrow on the right and click on Edit.
   
   
    
6. Drag the "Ready to Start" field from the list of available fields at the top, to your desired area on the page. When finished, click on Save.
   
   
    

If you still cannot see the "Ready to Start" field in Project Task and/or Salesforce Task even after you've added it to the page layouts, you likely need to set the field-level security to visible. Please see Set Field-Level Security for Ready to Start Field

If you would like to receive email notifications when your tasks are ready to be started, you will need to configure an email alert workflow. Please see Configuring Email Notifications for Ready-to-Start Tasks.