Automate deadline shifts on tasks

What are Deadline Actions?

Deadline actions automatically change the due date of a task when certain conditions are met. You can set them up to:

• Move a deadline earlier or later by a certain amount (e.g., add 3 days).
• Set a deadline based on the deadline of another step in the process.
• Set a deadline based on a date entered into a “Date” type form field earlier in the process.

Use the “Apply To” setting in the automation rule to choose which step’s deadline gets changed by this action.

Examples of Deadline Actions

Example 1: Make deadline earlier for premium service

IF (Package Purchased field) is "Premium"
THEN shift deadline for step "Send First Draft" 3 days earlier than its default

(Premium customers get their draft 3 days sooner.)

Example 2: Set deadline based on a meeting date

IF (Project Scope field) is "Complex"
THEN set deadline for step "Review Meeting" to (Client Kick-off Date field) + 5 days

(The review meeting deadline is set 5 working days after the date entered in the “Client Kick-off Date” field.)

Example 3: Link deadlines between tasks

IF (Initial Review task) is completed
THEN set deadline for task "Final Approval" to 2 days after the deadline of step "Client Feedback"

(The final approval is due 2 working days after the client feedback was due.)

(In the screenshot example, if the condition is met, the deadline for step 13 will be pushed 1 day later than it was originally.)

Setting the starting point for the new deadline

When you create a deadline action, you choose where the calculation starts from:

• Current deadline: Add or subtract time from the step’s original deadline.
• Another step’s deadline: Add or subtract time from the deadline of a different step.
• Date field value: Add or subtract time from a date that was entered into a form field.

For example, you could set the deadline for Step B to be “+2 days from Step A’s deadline”.

How deadlines handle weekends/non-working days

Tallyfy automatically considers your company’s working days and hours (set in Organization Settings). If a deadline action calculates a due date that falls on a weekend or outside working hours, Tallyfy will always move the deadline forward to the next available working time. It will never move a deadline backward to a previous day.

Example: If a calculation results in a Saturday deadline, Tallyfy will move it to the following Monday morning (assuming Monday is a working day).

Related articles

Automations > Actions

Automation actions in Tallyfy execute the “THEN” portion of if-this-then-that rules and include four types: assignment actions for changing task responsibility deadline actions for adjusting due dates status actions for reopening completed tasks and visibility actions for showing or hiding steps based on conditions.

Templates > Automations

Tallyfy process automations are smart IF-THEN rules that automatically perform actions like task assignments deadline changes and step visibility based on defined conditions to reduce manual work and ensure consistent process execution.

Actions > Automate task assignments

Assignment actions in Tallyfy automatically modify task responsibility by adding replacing or clearing assignees based on specified conditions and can utilize both specific people/groups and form field selections for dynamic task allocation.

Automations > Examples

Real-world automation patterns demonstrate how to leverage Tallyfy’s rule-based system for handling approvals task assignments notifications and process flows based on different business conditions and scenarios.