--- title: Set an exact date on a task · Tallyfy Pro description: Tallyfy template steps carry relative deadlines like 3 days after launch, so a step never holds a calendar date. Real dates appear when you launch a process, and from then on you can set any task to an exact date and time, with dependent tasks recalculating from their own rules. lastUpdated: 2026-09-09T00:00:00.000Z source_url: html: https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/tracking-and-tasks/tasks/edit-task/change-a-task-due-date/ md: https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/tracking-and-tasks/tasks/edit-task/change-a-task-due-date/index.md --- ## Why templates hold relative deadlines and tasks hold real dates A [template](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/documenting/templates/) is a pattern you reuse, so it can’t hold a calendar date. The same onboarding template runs in March and in November, and no single date would be right for both. Template steps carry a rule instead, like “3 days after launch”. Real dates arrive when you [launch a process](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/launching/how-can-i-launch-a-process-in-tallyfy/). Tallyfy reads every rule, does the arithmetic, and gives each task an actual date on the calendar. From that point on the date belongs to that one [process](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/tracking-and-tasks/processes/), and you can change it to whatever you want. So there are three places to set a deadline on a task inside a process, and only the last one takes a date you pick by hand. ### Deadlines in a template are always relative 1. Open your template in edit mode and click the step. 2. On the **Basics** tab, expand the **Timings** row. 3. Set a number and a unit, then choose **after** or **before**, then choose what it counts from: **launch**, or another step in the template. 4. Tallyfy saves the change straight away. That last dropdown is the whole model. A step is due so many days after the process starts, or after another step finishes, or before a later step is due. There’s no calendar in here, and that’s deliberate. Full detail on the Timings tab is in [edit steps](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/documenting/templates/edit-templates/edit-steps/). ### Adjust a deadline while you launch The launch screen shows the real date each task will get, and lets you change it for that one run without touching the template. 1. Click **Launch Process** on the template card. 2. Work through the launch screens and pick **Review & edit before launching**. 3. Change the deadline on any task you want to shift. 4. Click **Launch**. Your template stays exactly as it was. See [edit before launch](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/launching/how-can-i-edit-a-process-before-launching/) for everything else you can change at this point. ### Set an exact date on a task in a running process This is the one that takes a real date and time. 1. Open the running process from [Tracker](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/tracking-and-tasks/tracker-view/). 2. Find the task you want to move. 3. Click the menu icon (…) on the task card and choose **Edit Deadline**. 4. Pick the date and the time you want. The task is now due exactly then. That date belongs to this process only, so the template is untouched and future launches still use its rule. One-off tasks work the same way A [one-off task](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/tracking-and-tasks/tasks/how-to-create-a-one-off-task-in-tallyfy/) isn’t part of a process, so it never had a relative rule to begin with. You give it a date when you create it. ### Tasks that depend on this one move too If other tasks in the process count their deadline from the one you just changed, each of them is worked out again from its own rule against the new date. A task due 2 days after this one is now due 2 days after the date you picked. That’s the point of building the chain in the template: move one date and the rest follow, instead of editing twenty tasks by hand. Only tasks that aren’t finished yet get moved. Your organization’s working days apply as well, so a recalculated date that lands on a non-working day gets moved to one that works. See [adjust task deadlines to your work week](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/settings/org-settings/how-to-adjust-task-deadlines-to-work-week/). ### When the date comes from a form field Editing a task by hand is fine once. If every run needs its dates to follow a date somebody types in, like a hire date or an event date, don’t edit tasks one at a time. Use an automation instead. Add a **Date** field to your kick-off form, then write a rule such as “set the deadline for Send welcome email to 3 days before Hire Date”. The field has to be a Date field, not a text field, or the rule can’t do arithmetic on it. Worked examples are in [countdown deadline automation](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/documenting/templates/automations/examples/countdown-deadline-automation/). ## Related articles [**Edit Task > Set an exact date on a task**](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/tracking-and-tasks/tasks/edit-task/change-a-task-due-date/) Tallyfy uses relative deadline rules (like “3 days after launch”) in templates since they are… [**Actions > Automate deadline shifts on tasks**](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/documenting/templates/automations/actions/deadline-actions/) Tallyfy’s deadline actions automatically shift task due dates forward or backward based on… [**Launching > Launch manually**](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/launching/how-can-i-launch-a-process-in-tallyfy/) Launch a process manually by clicking Launch Process on any template card and naming the… [**Tracking And Tasks > More about tasks**](https://tallyfy.com/products/pro/tracking-and-tasks/tasks/) Tallyfy organizes all work into two types of tasks: process tasks that run inside repeatable… ## Was this helpful?