Relative dates for steps, phases & milestones
Any date on a step, phase, or milestone can be set absolutely (e.g. Mar 15, 2026) or relatively (e.g. "2 business days after Step 3's due date"). Relative dates keep the schedule self-adjusting — move one date and everything that depends on it moves with it. Essential for templating and for handling real-world slippage.
Where you set them
Relative dates are available in the date picker of every step (and of Timeline phases and milestones). Open a step's details sidepanel, click the Start or Due date, and switch the picker from Absolute to Relative.
Anatomy of a relative date
A relative date has three parts:
- Reference — what the date is relative to
- Offset — how many units away
- Offset unit — business days, calendar days, weeks, or months
1. Reference — what you can relate to
The reference picker gives you three entry points:
- Room dates — e.g. the room's creation date, or the deal's key dates
- This action — the action you're currently editing. Useful for setting one of its own dates relative to another (e.g. Due date = Start date + 5 business days).
- Any other action — picked from a searchable list of all the other steps/tasks/subtasks in the room.
For any action you pick (this one or another), you then choose which of its dates to relate to: Start date, Due date, or Completion date (the actual completion timestamp, not the due date).
2. Offset
A signed integer. Examples: +2, -1, 0 (same day).
3. Offset unit
Unit | Meaning |
|---|---|
Business days | Mon–Fri only; skips weekends |
Calendar days | Every day including weekends |
Weeks | Multiples of 7 calendar days |
Months | Calendar months (same day of month next period) |
Example
"Kickoff call 3 business days after the contract is signed"
- Reference: Step "Contract" → Completion date
- Offset: 3
- Unit: Business days
If Contract is signed on Friday, the Kickoff auto-schedules for Wednesday (skipping the weekend).
How changes propagate
- Reference moves — the dependent date recomputes automatically. No manual update needed.
- Reference is deleted or has no usable date — the dependent date becomes unresolved and shows up in the Timeline's Unresolved dates badge. Fix it by picking a new reference or entering an absolute date.
How dates are rendered
- Absolute dates — shown in normal style, as entered.
- Computed relative dates — shown in italic, so you can tell at a glance which dates are driven by rules vs. set directly.
- Unresolved (yet-to-be-computed) dates — displayed as
...everywhere in the UI. This happens when the rule can't resolve yet (typically because the reference's date isn't set).
Special case: relating to a Completion date
A Completion date only exists once the referenced action is marked Completed — so the dependent date might not have a real value yet. To keep the schedule usable, Katalyz computes an expected completion date:
- If the referenced action's due date is in the future → expected completion = the due date. (We assume it'll complete on time.)
- If the referenced action's due date is in the past (it's already late) → expected completion = today. (We assume it'll complete ASAP, not in the past.)
Once the referenced action is actually marked Completed, the dependent date snaps to the real completion date and stays there.
Showing the expected date while editing
While you're setting up a relative date in the picker, an expected date preview is shown — the concrete calendar date the rule currently resolves to. Sanity-check before you apply.
When to use relative vs. absolute
- Relative — for templates and plans that get shifted around. Set the kickoff date absolutely; relate everything else to it. Reuse across deals with a single change.
- Absolute — for hard commitments that won't move (legal, renewal, audit) and for external deadlines imposed by the buyer.
Mix freely: one step absolute, another relative — the system resolves both.
Best practices
- Relate to Completion date, not Due date, for steps that need something to actually happen before the next step. Due dates are intentions; completion is reality.
- Use business days for human work, calendar days for machine/automated delays.
- Keep chains short — a relative date that depends on another relative date that depends on another is valid, but hard to reason about. Anchor important points absolutely.
- Check the Unresolved dates badge after big edits to catch orphaned references.
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Updated on: 18/06/2026
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