Due dates that set themselves on every run

Set a step's due date once, relative to the run — three days after it starts, a week before it's due, or the day after the previous step wraps up. Manifestly works out the real date each time a run begins and keeps the right people on schedule.

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Send welcome packet Due date
Due 3
Units Days
Counted as Business
Measured from From the run start date
On a run started Mon, Nov 2
Due Thu, Nov 5 · 3 business days later

Stop editing dates run after run

A fixed calendar date is stale the moment the next run starts. A relative due date is part of the Workflow itself — so every run, whenever it kicks off, gets the right dates without anyone touching a thing.

Fixed dates
  • Retyped into every new run
  • Wrong the day the schedule shifts
  • No warning when a step slips
Relative due dates
  • Set once on the Workflow
  • Calculated fresh for each run
  • Reminders and overdue flags built in

Three choices, and the date takes care of itself

1

Pick an amount

Enter a number and choose the units — minutes, hours, or days. Days can be counted as calendar days or business days.

2

Choose what it's measured from

Anchor it to the run's start, the run's own due date, the previous step finishing, or a date someone entered in an earlier step.

3

Let every run calculate it

When a run starts — or the anchor changes — Manifestly works out the real due date for that step, and recalculates if the schedule shifts.

Anchor a due date to whatever matters

The same offset can mean very different things depending on where you measure from. Manifestly gives you four anchors, so a step is due exactly when it should be — not just a fixed number of days into the calendar.

  • From the run start date — e.g. 3 days after the run begins.
  • From the run due date — work backward, like 5 days before the run is due.
  • From completion of the previous step — the clock starts only once the prior step is done.
  • From a date collected in a step — anchor to a date a teammate enters, such as a start date or ship date.
Run due date −5 days before
Run starts
Step due
Run due

A negative amount reads as “before” the anchor. Set the run's due date and Manifestly places every step relative to it — final review five days out, prep the week before, and so on.

Count business days, not just calendar days

When you measure in days, choose whether Manifestly counts every calendar day or only working days. Business-day counting skips weekends and the holidays on your Business Calendar, so “3 days” lands on a day people are actually working.

  • Define your own working days and holiday calendar for the account.
  • Snap a calculated date to the next or previous business day so nothing falls due on a day off.
  • Dates are figured in the account's time zone, so due times read correctly for everyone.
November 3 business days from Mon 2
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Start Due Holiday Weekend

Wed the 4th is a holiday, so it's skipped — the third business day lands on Thu the 5th.

A due date that actually keeps people on track

A due date is only useful if the right person sees it in time. Manifestly turns each step's due date into reminders and overdue flags, and feeds them into the calendar your team already lives in.

  • Send reminders relative to a step's due date, the run's due date, or the run start — before or after.
  • Reminders reach people by email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SMS, and in-app.
  • Steps past due surface as overdue, and dashboards highlight what's due soon.
  • Due dates flow into the calendar feed so assignments show up alongside everything else.
Reminders on this step
1 day before the step's due date
Email · to the assignee
Morning it's due
Slack · to the assignee
When it becomes overdue
Flagged on the run & dashboard

Everything you can measure from

Run start datee.g. 3 days after Run due datee.g. 5 days before Previous step donee.g. 1 day after A collected datee.g. from a start date
Minutescalendar time Hourscalendar time Calendar daysevery day counts Business daysskips weekends & holidays

Where relative due dates shine

Employee onboarding

Tasks that key off a hire's start date rather than the day the run was created.

Enter the start date → IT setup is due 2 days before, first-week check-in 5 days after.

Client deliverables

Milestones that all count back from a promised delivery date.

Set the run due date → draft due 5 business days before, final review 2 days before.

Sequential handoffs

Stages where each owner's clock starts only when the last one finishes.

Design signs off → QA is due 1 business day after the previous step completes.

Relative due dates, answered

Four anchors: the run's start date, the run's own due date, the completion of the previous step, or a date collected earlier in the run. You give an amount and units, and Manifestly calculates the real date from the anchor you pick.

Minutes, hours, or days. When you use days, you can count them as calendar days or as business days that skip weekends and the holidays on your Business Calendar.

Yes. Use a negative amount to place a step before the anchor — for example, five days before the run's due date, or two days before a collected start date. Positive amounts fall after.

Business-day counting skips weekends and any dates on your account's Business Calendar. You can also snap a calculated date to the next or previous business day, so a due date never lands on a day off.

Yes. A step anchored to the previous step's completion, the run's due date, or a collected date updates as those inputs change during the run. If someone sets a specific date on a step by hand, that manual choice is kept instead of being recalculated.

You can send reminders relative to a step's due date, the run's due date, or the run start — delivered by email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SMS, and in-app. Steps past due are flagged as overdue, and due dates also feed the calendar integration.

Other Features

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