---
title: "Adding Dynamic Due Dates to Service Records"
slug: "adding-dynamic-due-dates-to-service-records"
updated: 2025-10-20T13:13:56Z
published: 2025-10-20T13:13:56Z
canonical: "documentation.sysaid.com/adding-dynamic-due-dates-to-service-records"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.sysaid.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Adding Dynamic Due Dates to Service Records

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) track the time to resolve service records. Often, this countdown continues even when a record is waiting for the end user or another party, which can result in missed SLAs.

**Dynamic Due Dates** prevent this by pausing the countdown when a record is in a designated status (such as *Waiting for User*). The timer resumes once the status changes, so SLA measurements reflect only the time the IT team is responsible for.

In this article, you’ll learn how to set up dynamic due dates in your SysAid account.

## How it works

Dynamic Due Dates adjust the countdown of a service record’s due date based on its status:

1. **The SLA clock runs normally** while the record is in any **active**status.
2. **When the record enters a designated “pause” status** (such as “Waiting for User” or “On Hold”),**the due date countdown will start to roll forward at 10-minute intervals**.
3. **The due date will continue to roll forward** as long as the record stays in the paused status, ensuring your team doesn’t lose SLA time while waiting on others.
4. **Once the record leaves the paused status**, the SLA countdown resumes its countdown as normal.

> [!NOTE]
> Please note:
> 
> Service records **must have a due date**, either one set manually or automatically by the [due date rules](https://documentation.sysaid.com/docs/due-dates-form).

The due will be updated on the Service Desk side and the Self-Service Portal as well.

Also, due date-based escalation rules will not apply to service records that are in a paused status. They will simply skip over them.

### When are due dates recalculated?

- A system check runs **every 10 minutes** and pushes due dates 10 minutes forward while they are still in the paused state. This process continues until the service record status changes to an active status.
- The system will recalculate due dates if you’ve changed any of the existing due date rules.
- When a request is converted to an incident, or vice versa, if this type of change triggers a new date rule and sets a new due date, then all the time that the service record was previously paused will be added to the new due date. This means that any time spent in a paused state will be retained.
- There is a checkbox under due date rules called **Calculate due dates only on new incidents**.
  - **If checked:**
    - Due date rules run only when the service record is created.
    - Changes to the service record (such as updating parameters or converting to another type) **will not** recalculate the due date.
  - **If unchecked:**
    - Changes to service record parameters used in due date rules, or converting the type, **will** trigger a due date recalculation.

## Setting up dynamic due dates

To set up dynamic due dates in your account, you’ll need to complete these steps:

### Step #1: Configuring “Paused” statuses

To configure the relevant “pause” statuses:

**In SysAid Spaces**

1. Go to **Settings**> **Templates & Fields** > **Field Value Lists**.
2. From the **List** drop-down menu, select **Status**.
3. Check the **Pause Due Date** checkbox for the relevant statuses.

**In SysAid Classic**

1. Go to **Settings**> **Customize** > **Lists**.
2. From the **List** drop-down menu, select **Status**.
3. Check the **Pause Due Date** checkbox for the relevant statuses.

### Step #2: Enabling the feature

To enable dynamic due dates in your SysAid account:

**In SysAid Spaces**

1. Go to **Settings** > **Service Desk** > **General Service Desk Customizations**.
2. Scroll down and check the **Enable Dynamic Due Date Calculation** checkbox.
3. Click **Save**.

**In SysAid Classic**

1. Go to **Settings** > **Service Desk** > **General**.
2. Scroll down and check the **Enable Dynamic Due Date Calculation** checkbox.
3. Click **Save**.

Once the feature is enabled and the statuses have been updated, the system will recalculate the due dates of all relevant service records and pause or unpause them accordingly.

## Related

- [Due Date Form](/due-dates-form.md)
- [Due Dates](/due-dates.md)