I don’t know if I need automation or formula or just psychiatric help. Probably a combo of all 3 at this point.
Is there any way to create an automation that will update an item’s status if it’s due date changes? My goal is to have a “delay” status column update via an automation when a baseline date changes.
I have a Current Due Date column and a Baseline Due Date column. The baseline column sets via an automation when the Current Due Date column is initially populated. I have a formula that tells me the difference between these two columns. But I can’t use that formula column to do anything with a status automation. As far as I can see, there aren’t any automations that will set a status based on a date change.
I know I can use marketplace apps to extract the formula results; but I’d really like a native solution. We previously had an AI automation; but after 6 months of working perfectly, it is now setting everything to delayed.
Anyone else tracking delayed or pushed out items? Is there something obvious I’m missing?
Which product (CRM/Work Management, etc) and level (Pro/Enterprise) do you have? Also, can you clarify a bit more ie what would you like to have happen? Or is it simply, change a status if a date changes? If it’s that, then a simple ‘when column changes, change status to X’ would work.
Hello @lmdoeb
You’re not missing anything. This is a real monday.com limitation.
There’s no native automation that can update a Status based on a comparison between two Date columns or a Formula. Formula columns are read only and can’t trigger automations, and date change automations don’t evaluate delay logic.
Native workarounds people use:
Use a Button to reset the Baseline Due Date and Delay status when the Current Due Date changes.
Or use date based logic, like when Current Due Date arrives and Status is not Done, set Status to Delaye
If you’d like hands-on help or want us to walk through this live, you can book a 1:1 paid 60-minute strategy session with our team here: Calendly
Dr. Tanvi Sachar
Monday Certified Partner, Tuesday Wizard
We are Pro, using the Work Management product. I’m trying to have a status indicator that tells me when an item’s due date has been delayed.
For example: on 2/3 I know I’m not going to hit the original 2/5 deadline, so I update the due date to 2/12. The status would then change from On Time to Delayed.
I have an automation running now that tracks the original due date and sets a “baseline due date” in a separate column. Then, I have a formula column that calculates the difference in days between the Baseline and Current Due Date. I just don’t see a way to tie these together natively.
I was hoping others had a different way that I wasn’t thinking of; but it seems like a marketplace app is my best bet.
Any date-based automation logic doesn’t work consistently because the due date can be pushed out before it arrives. In essence: on 2/3 I know I’m not going to hit the 2/5 deadline, so I push it out to 2/12; and we were attempting to have a status indicator that automatically tracks that change.
Thanks so much, this is a fantastic suggestion and works perfectly, except if a date is pulled in vs. pushed out. That’s why we need the logic and the formula between the two dates, if the number is greater than 0 it’s delayed, if it’s less than it’s not an issue.
Appreciate the additional thought and help on this, though!
Yes, this can be achieved using Make, since Monday.com’s native automations can’t update a status based on comparing two date columns.
Here’s the simple idea:
Make can watch your board for any changes to the Current Due Date. When it changes, Make compares it with the Baseline Due Date. If the Current Due Date is later than the Baseline Due Date, Make automatically updates the Delay status column to “Delayed.” If it’s the same or earlier, it can set it to “On Track” or whatever status you prefer.
This way, your delay status always reflects the real difference between the planned date and the current date, without relying on formula columns or manual checks.
hi @lmdoeb ! If the goal is to automatically flag items as delayed when dates move, one practical workaround is using Time in Status. Instead of trying to force a status change via formulas (which monday still doesn’t allow), it tracks when an item enters a status and how long it stays there. That gives you a clean, automatic way to see which items were pushed out, how often, and for how long - without brittle AI automations.
There’s a 14-day trial, and happy to walk through the setup on a quick demo if helpful.
