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.

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

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 was 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

Related articles

Examples > Countdown deadline automation

Set up automated countdown deadlines that work backwards from important dates so preparation tasks are always completed on time.

Templates > Automations

Tallyfy automations are IF-THEN rules added to templates that automatically adapt running processes based on form field entries and task events by showing or hiding steps and assigning tasks and setting deadlines without any manual routing.

Automations > Actions

Tallyfy’s automation actions are the “THEN” part of IF-THEN rules that automatically assign tasks to the right people adjust deadlines reopen completed steps for approval loops show or hide steps based on form answers and fire webhooks to external systems — eliminating manual work and ensuring processes run consistently every time.

Tutorials > Create an automation

Tallyfy’s automation rules use simple IF-THEN logic to dynamically adapt workflows at runtime — such as hiding and revealing onboarding steps based on a new hire’s role selection in a form field — so processes self-adjust without any manual intervention.

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 ↩

Was this helpful?

YesNo