Skip to main content
This is an example of creating Formula Fields using workflows — specifically date calculations.
Tracking when opportunities enter each stage helps you identify bottlenecks and measure deal velocity. This guide walks you through setting up custom fields and a workflow to automatically record when an opportunity moves to each stage, and calculate how many days it spent in the previous stage.

​
Step 1: Create Custom Fields

You need two types of fields for each stage:
  • Date & Time fields: Record when the opportunity entered each stage
  • Number fields: Store how many days the opportunity spent in each stage

​
Create the “Last Entered” Fields

  1. Go to Settings → Data Model → Opportunities
  2. For each stage, click + Add Field and configure:
    • Name: Last Entered [Stage Name] (e.g., “Last Entered New”, “Last Entered Qualified”)
    • Type: Date & Time
    • Description: Timestamp when opportunity entered this stage
  3. Click Save
Create these fields:
  • Last Entered New
  • Last Entered Qualified
  • Last Entered Meeting
  • Last Entered Proposal
  • Last Entered Negotiation
  • Last Entered Closed Won
  • Last Entered Closed Lost

​
Create the “Days in Stage” Fields

  1. For each stage, click + Add Field and configure:
    • Name: Days in [Stage Name] (e.g., “Days in New”, “Days in Qualified”)
    • Type: Number
    • Description: Number of days spent in this stage
  2. Click Save
Create these fields:
  • Days in New
  • Days in Qualified
  • Days in Meeting
  • Days in Proposal
  • Days in Negotiation
You don’t need “Days in” fields for Closed Won and Closed Lost since those are final stages.

​
Optional: Make Fields Read-Only

If you don’t want users manually editing these calculated fields:
  1. Go to Settings → Roles
  2. Select the role to configure
  3. Find the Opportunities object
  4. Set the “Last Entered” and “Days in” fields to read-only

​
Step 2: Create the Workflow

This single workflow handles both tasks:
  • Records the timestamp when entering a new stage
  • Calculates days spent in the previous stage

​
Create the Workflow

  1. Go to Workflows
  2. Click + New Workflow
  3. Name it “Track Stage Time”

​
Configure the Trigger

  1. Add a Record Updated trigger
  2. Select Opportunities as the object
  3. Filter on: Stage field is updated

​
Add Branches for Each Stage

To create a new branch, right click on the workflow canvas and click New action. Then, link this action to the previous node by dragging the arrow from the previous node to this new action.
Branch 1: Stage = New (first stage) Since this is the first stage, we only record the entry timestamp—no previous stage to calculate.
  1. Add a Filter node: Stage = New
  2. Add a Code action:
export const main = async (): Promise<object> => {
  return { now: new Date().toISOString() };
};
  1. Add an Update Record action:
    • Record: The triggering Opportunity
    • Field: Last Entered New
    • Value: now from Code node
Branch 2: Stage = Qualified When moving to Qualified, record entry time AND calculate days spent in New.
  1. Add a Filter node: Stage = Qualified
  2. Add a Code action:
export const main = async (params: {
  lastEnteredPreviousStage: Date;
}): Promise<object> => {
  const { lastEnteredPreviousStage } = params;

  const now = new Date();
  const entryDate = new Date(lastEnteredPreviousStage);
  const diffTime = Math.abs(now.getTime() - entryDate.getTime());
  const daysInPreviousStage = Math.ceil(diffTime / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));

  return {
    now: now.toISOString(),
    daysInPreviousStage: daysInPreviousStage
  };
};
  1. Configure the Code node input: map lastEnteredPreviousStage to the Last Entered New field
  2. Add an Update Record action:
    • Record: The triggering Opportunity
    • Fields to update:
      • Last Entered Qualified = now
      • Days in New = daysInPreviousStage
Branch 3: Stage = Meeting When moving to Meeting, record entry time AND calculate days spent in Qualified.
  1. Add a Filter node: Stage = Meeting
  2. Add a Code action:
export const main = async (params: {
  lastEnteredPreviousStage: Date;
}): Promise<object> => {
  const { lastEnteredPreviousStage } = params;

  const now = new Date();
  const entryDate = new Date(lastEnteredPreviousStage);
  const diffTime = Math.abs(now.getTime() - entryDate.getTime());
  const daysInPreviousStage = Math.ceil(diffTime / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));

  return {
    now: now.toISOString(),
    daysInPreviousStage: daysInPreviousStage
  };
};
  1. Configure the Code node input: map lastEnteredPreviousStage to the Last Entered Qualified field
  2. Add an Update Record action:
    • Record: The triggering Opportunity
    • Fields to update:
      • Last Entered Meeting = now
      • Days in Qualified = daysInPreviousStage
Continue for remaining stages:
StageRecordsCalculates
ProposalLast Entered ProposalDays in Meeting
NegotiationLast Entered NegotiationDays in Proposal
Closed WonLast Entered Closed WonDays in Negotiation
Closed LostLast Entered Closed LostDays in Negotiation
The branches do not need to rejoin—each runs independently when its stage condition is met.

​
Step 3: Analyze Time in Stage

With timestamps and day counts recorded, you can now analyze deal velocity.

​
Create a “Slow Deals” View

  1. Create a Table view of Opportunities
  2. Add columns: Name, Stage, Days in [previous stage], Amount
  3. Sort by “Days in” field (descending)
  4. Filter by Stage to focus on one stage at a time
Deals at the top spent the most time in the previous stage.

​
Use Aggregations

In your pipeline Kanban view:
  1. Click the number next to a Stage name
  2. Select Average
  3. Choose a “Days in” field
This shows the average time deals spend in each stage.

​
Summary

ComponentPurpose
Last Entered fieldsStore when opportunity entered each stage
Days in fieldsStore how many days spent in each stage
WorkflowRecords timestamp AND calculates days in one pass
Views & AggregationsAnalyze deal velocity and identify bottlenecks