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This might be due to the fact that I'm not a native speaker and I encountered this phrase at a later date, but people saying "it's all but xyz" to mean "it's xyz" really gets on my nerves. I get it, "it's all but complete" means that virtually all the conditions are met for it to be complete, but I find it so annoying for some reason.
"The task is all but impossible" registers as 'it's not impossible, it's everything else: possible', so the fact that it means the opposite of that makes my brain twitch.
English intensifiers tend not to follow Boolean logic flows very well (think of double negatives). Instead, try to think of it as a little bit of extra data for your or the speaker's benefit. "It's all but impossible" does mean it's possible, as you say, but there is more there. It means, "while this is possible, it's so difficult or unlikely that we cannot count on normal levels of luck or effort to help us; you should reset your expectations accordingly."
Your other example is similar. "It's all but complete" tells you that the project or event is almost but notyet complete, but more than that. It means "This is very nearly complete. It is so close to complete, in fact, that the remaining time will be trivial. I suspect or know that you are eager for it to be complete, so unless doing so is all but impossible (๐), please try to be patient just a little bit longer."
"All but" is a way to linguistically make a fine gradation in levels of "almost".