---
title: "What Is the Gantt Schedule?"
url: "https://help.ontraccr.com/en/article/what-is-the-gantt-schedule"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2025-06-26T17:41:12.609Z"
---

# What Is the Gantt Schedule?

## **🏗️ Ontraccr Gantt Schedule: Plan Projects Like a Builder, Not a Spreadsheet**  
 

The **Gantt Schedule** is Ontraccr’s long-term planning and forecasting tool.

It helps you build **project timelines**, coordinate resources, and visualize how work is sequenced across time, teams, and tasks.

Whether you're managing one job or dozens, the Gantt Schedule brings structure to the chaos of multi-phase project execution.

* * *

## **🧭 What It’s For**

Use the Gantt Schedule to:

-   Map project tasks and durations
-   Forecast labor, materials, and equipment
-   Plan dependencies between phases of work
-   Manage multiple project timelines in one place
-   Coordinate multiple trades or crews across jobs

* * *

## **🧰 When to Use It**

The Gantt Schedule is ideal when:

-   You’re creating a **project timeline**
-   You need to understand **how tasks overlap** or depend on each other
-   You want to assign resources like **users, materials, or equipment** in advance
-   You need to manage **many projects** at once and stay ahead of the work

* * *

## **🔄 How It Works**

-   Every project in Ontraccr has a **Gantt Schedule automatically created**
-   Tasks can include:
    -   Start and end dates
    -   Assigned users or expected user groups
    -   Materials, equipment, and cost codes
    -   Task labels and status tracking
    -   Parent/child dependencies
-   You can **dispatch tasks directly** into the Field Schedule as the work date approaches
-   Use the **Master Schedule** to combine multiple projects into one high-level view

* * *

## **🎯 Why It Matters**

Field teams operate best when work is predictable.

The Gantt Schedule gives you that predictability by helping you:

-   Plan tasks in logical sequences
-   Avoid last-minute resource conflicts
-   Make use of downtime across crews
-   Identify risks before they become problems

It turns project execution into a **coordinated, proactive process**, not a reactive scramble.

* * *

## **💡 Common Use Cases**

| Scenario | Why Gantt Helps |
| --- | --- |
| Building project plans during kickoff | Set task timelines and dependencies |
| Assigning resources to job phases | Allocate labor, materials, equipment |
| Coordinating subcontractors | Track who's doing what and when |
| Multi-project oversight | Use the Master Schedule to see everything |

* * *

## **🔗 Related Tools**

-   **Field Schedule** – Turn Gantt tasks into live, clock-able shifts
-   **Materials & Equipment Database** – Assign tracked assets to each task
-   **Labels & Filters** – Organize and sort tasks for better planning

* * *

## **🧠 Big Picture**

The Gantt Schedule is more than a planning tool—it’s a **project control system**.

It connects your high-level roadmap with day-to-day execution, ensuring that what’s planned actually gets done—and gets done right.