Automate deadline shifts on tasks

Deadline actions

Deadline actions adjust task due dates automatically when conditions in your automation rules are met. You can:

• Shift a deadline forward or backward by a set amount (e.g. +3 days)
• Base a deadline on another step’s due date
• Set a deadline from a date entered in a form field

Use the Apply To dropdown in your automation rule to pick which step’s deadline changes.

Types of automations

Visibility

IF this THEN show/hide that step

Assignment

IF this THEN assign someone

Deadline

IF this THEN shift the deadline

Status

IF this THEN re-open a task

Examples of deadline actions

Here’s how deadline actions work in practice.

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

Example 2: Set deadline from a form field 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 lands 5 days¹ after whatever date the user 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"

Final approval falls 2 days after the client feedback step was due.

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, pick where to start counting from:

• Current deadline - add or subtract from the step’s existing due date
• Another step’s deadline - build off a different step’s deadline
• Date field value - use a date someone entered in a form field

Want Step B due 2 days after Step A? Set it as “+2 days from Step A’s deadline.”

How deadlines handle non-working days

Tallyfy checks your company’s working days and hours (set in Settings > Organization). If a calculated deadline falls on a non-working day or outside work hours, Tallyfy always pushes it forward to the next working time. Never backward.

A deadline that lands on Saturday moves to Monday morning (if Monday’s a workday for you).

Tallyfy uses calendar days for its calculations, then adjusts the result to fit your configured work week. It doesn’t account for public holidays or individual time off - just the work week you’ve defined. See Customize work week to change these settings.

Coming soon: Public holiday data for 200+ countries at tallyfy.com/national-holidays ↗. A future release will skip national holidays automatically.

Calendar-based vs relative deadlines

Tallyfy deadlines are relative to when the process starts², not calendar-based. If you need deadlines on specific days (like every Monday):

1. Weekly patterns - schedule process launches on those days, then use relative deadlines
2. Monthly patterns - use scheduled launches on specific dates
3. Accounting cycles - consider separate templates for different deadline patterns
4. Variable deadlines - use date form fields to capture dates, then set deadlines relative to them

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Footnotes

1. Tallyfy calculates in calendar days, then adjusts to your configured working days if the result falls on a non-working day ↩

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

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