The Due Date field is one of many features designed to help work get done. Due Date fields must be linked to a Status field within a Table. At least one of the Status field values is flagged as the "Complete" value for SmartSuite to track when work is done.

Due Date fields differ from standard Date fields by tracking the length of time (days) until work is due, how long it is overdue, and how early or how long past due it is marked as "complete".

Due date is similar to a Date Range field, as it is comprised of a Start Date and an End Date. You have the option of displaying the field as a single value, which will also display status of the due date, or break out the start and end dates separately and display them just like individual date fields. We'll explore this in more detail below.

Adding a Due Date field

From Grid View

Click the + menu icon after the last column header or open the Column Menu by clicking on a column header's dropdown icon and then select "Add Field to the Right."

Select "Due Date" and a window will open to configure the field. You can search the name for a quick find.

From Record View

The fastest way to add a field from an open Record View to is simply click the + sign next to a current field to add a new field below.

See a Text Area field being added in Edit Record View below:

Connecting Status fields

Every Due Date must be linked to a Status field. Make sure you’ve created one before moving further. This might sound like a limitation, but it does bring value, so stick with us. ✍️

Note:
This is the message SmartSuite displays when trying to create a Due Date field when no Status field is available.

Customizing the field

The Due Date field's settings have four configurable options:

Name
Display Format
Linked Status Field
Require an entry in this field

Name

The field's default name will be ‘Due Date’ but this can be changed by typing in the header section. Keep in mind that field name should be unique within a Table.

Display Format

This setting allows you to choose the way that dates are displayed. There are three formats to choose from:

Compact: Numeric representation of the date
Standard: Abbreviated Month display (default)
Long: Abbreviated weekday and month display

Notes:

Time values are included to show how they appear when enabled. Due date values to not require time entry.
Date and time formats vary by the locale you have selected at the Workspace or individual Profile level.

Linked Status Field

This setting links a Status field to the Due Date field, establishing a connection that is used to determine the status indicator displayed on the due date.

You will notice that the Status field selector shows which value(s) represent a completed state (they are displayed after the colon in the text of the field options). Due dates linked to status fields that are not in a "completed" state - and are past their due date - are color coded red.

Require an entry in this field

This checkbox option allows you to require that users provide a value for the Due Date. When a record is opened in Edit mode, the user will not be able to save the record until a due date is specified. An error message will be displayed as well.

Working with Due Dates

The first thing you will notice when opening a due date selector is that it has two dates instead of just one. Why would you need a range here?

Due Dates are actually "compound" fields as they have both a Start Date and an End Date. This simplifies the configuration of workflows and project plans, allowing you to have all of the information you need to display a task's start and end date in grids or Gantt charts without adding multiple fields.

Adding Time to Your Dates

You may also specify the exact time for both stard and end dates to add an extra level of precision.

Due Dates with Single Values

The Due Date's end date component will always be filled if there is a value in the field. It will never solely contain the start date component.

If you only need a completion date, leave the start date component of the Due Date field blank. Also, if you enter a date through inline edit in the "rolled up" version of the Due Date field, we assume you're specifying the end date.

This means if you enter a date through inline edit in the "subfield" version of only the start date component, the end date component will also populate with the same date.

Due Dates and Completion Status

Let’s have a closer look at how Due Date and Status correlate.

Each Status field has at least one value that defines its completed state. It can be something like “Done”, “Complete”, “Closed” etc.

Due Date watches changes in Status field and instantly knows if it’s completed or not. 👀

When the Status is anything but completed, the following happens:

If a due date is far ahead and the future is bright, you’ll see a smily face next to the date itself.

As time gets shorter, smiley face turns into an orange counter, showing exact number of days left before the due date.

If due date has passed by, counter would turn red displaying number of days overdue.

If this number gets too high, you’ll see a very, very sad face.

However, as soon as the Status is set to completed, Due Date will display a satisfying green checkmark, congrats!

See that little red dot, however? It indicates that a task was completed after the due date.

Displaying Start and End Dates

The Due Date field itself can be added to your views, which will display any start and end date values, along with the status of the due date (see below for additional details).

You can also choose to select the individual start and end date components from the Due Date instead of the "rollup" version. This allows you to easily work with those dates in Grid view, making it easier to quickly enter values or bulk update your data.

To add the individual "subfields" you click the plus sign by the Due Date field name in field selector controls. This will expand the field to show individual selections for:

Start Date
End Date

Now you can arrange those start and end date components of the Due Date within your view to meet your exact needs.

Adding Start Date and End Date Example:

Using Start Date and End Date in Grid View:

Multiple Complete Status Values

You have the ability to define multiple complete status values. For example, a Sales Opportunity record can be configured to treat "Lost" and "Won" as complete.

This is useful when you are evaluating the completion state in an automation or a calculated field, or using an "Is Overdue" evaluation when setting up View filters or spotlights.

Due Date Status Indicator

Due Dates are displayed with a status indicator, positioned to the left of the date display. Note that this is only shown when displaying the Due Date as a whole, not when you select Due Date: Start or Due Date: End as individually-displayed fields/columns.

There are multiple states for this indicator:

Prior to Due Date. Indicator displays the number of days until the due date.
Completed Prior to or on Due Date. Displays a green check, popup indicates how many days early it was completed.
Completed After Due Date. Displays a green check with red dot, popup indicates how many days after the due date it was completed.
Incomplete After Due Date. Displays red indicator with days after due date, popup indicates number of days overdue. Extremely overdue (>30 days) tasks display a red "angry face" icon.

Visually, each scenario is represented as below, with details displaying on hover. Try to avoid the angry sad face that displays when items are extremely overdue!

Using Due Dates in Views

Filter and Spotlight

Filter and Spotlight controls allow to use “Is overdue“/ ”Is not overdue” criteria. For example, you can build a report to display overdue records only. Easy!

Calendar and Timeline Views

Due Date can be used in Calendar and Timeline views.

This is a very powerful tool to visualize your tasks
Take advantage of dragging and resizing features to adjust dates as needed

Checklist Field

Due Dates can also be assigned in the Checklist field