Automate deadline shifts on tasks

What are deadline actions?

Deadline actions automatically adjust task due dates in Tallyfy when specific conditions trigger them. Pretty handy, right? You’ll use these to:

• Shift deadlines forward or backward by a set time (like adding 3 days)
• Link a deadline to another step’s due date
• Connect deadlines to dates your team enters in form fields

Here’s the key - use the “Apply To” setting in your automation rule to pick which step’s deadline changes.

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 - simple as that.

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

This sets your review meeting exactly 5 working days¹ after whatever date someone 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"

Your final approval lands 2 working days after the client feedback was due. Nice and predictable.

In this screenshot, you can see how step 13’s deadline gets pushed 1 day later when the condition is met.

Setting the starting point for the new deadline

When creating a deadline action, you’ll pick where to start counting from. Three options:

• Current deadline: Add or subtract from the step’s original due date
• Another step’s deadline: Build off a different step’s deadline
• Date field value: Use a date someone typed into a form field

Want Step B due 2 days after Step A? Easy - just set it as “+2 days from Step A’s deadline”.

How deadlines handle weekends/non-working days

Tallyfy’s smart about weekends - it checks your company’s working days and hours (you set these in Organization Settings). Here’s what happens: if a calculated deadline falls on a weekend or outside work hours, Tallyfy always pushes it forward to the next working time. Never backward.

Let’s say a deadline lands on Saturday. Tallyfy moves it to Monday morning (assuming that’s a workday for you).

Heads up: Tallyfy uses calendar days and your configured work week only. It doesn’t know about country holidays, company holidays, or when Bob from accounting is on vacation. Just the basic work week. Check out Customize work week if you need to tweak these settings.

Calendar-based vs relative deadlines

Need deadlines on specific days (like every Monday)? Tallyfy deadlines are relative to when the process starts², not calendar-based. For recurring workflows with specific day requirements:

1. For weekly patterns (Monday/Wednesday/Friday): Schedule process launches on those days, then use relative deadlines
2. For monthly patterns (1st of month, last day): Use scheduled process launches on those dates
3. For accounting cycles: Consider separate templates for different deadline patterns
4. Variable deadlines: Use date form fields to capture specific dates, then set deadlines relative to those dates

This design ensures processes work regardless of when they’re launched.

Related articles

Examples > Countdown deadline automation

This content demonstrates how to set up automated countdown deadlines that work backwards from important dates to ensure preparation tasks are completed on time through date field capture task creation and automation rule configuration.

Automations > Actions

Automation actions in Tallyfy serve as the “THEN” component of conditional rules that automatically execute specific behaviors like task assignments deadline modifications status changes and step visibility when predefined conditions are met to streamline workflows and eliminate manual interventions.

Templates > Automations

Tallyfy automations enable intelligent workflow adaptation through conditional IF-THEN rules that automatically modify processes based on user input form responses task completions and other triggers to create dynamic workflows that route tasks assign responsibilities and show or hide steps without manual intervention.

Examples > Combined visibility and deadline rules

Combining visibility rules with deadline rules in Tallyfy creates smart context-aware workflows where steps appear only when relevant and automatically receive appropriate deadlines based on specific conditions like shipment types contract categories or priority levels.

Footnotes

1. Working days exclude weekends based on your Organization Settings configuration ↩

2. Deadlines calculate from run creation time, not from a fixed calendar date ↩