When a meeting is marked complete we would like to see a 48 hr countdown or have a timestamp of some kind so we can see how much time has elapsed since the meeting has been held. This is a Task & Event Report. Do you what is the simplest and easient way to accomplish this? I tried adding a Summary Formula but I get a few errors not validating. If you know which formula I should use, this will also be helpfull. Thank you in advance.
#Formulas
Hi Bertrum - the reason your Summary Formula will not validate is that summary formulas only work on aggregated, grouped values (Sum, Average, etc.), so they cannot reach into an individual row's date field like your meeting date. For a per-record 'time since the meeting' you want a Row-Level Formula instead - that is the report feature that can reference field values on each row, and it supports NOW() and date math. No custom field needed - a row-level formula lives only on the report.
Steps:
1. Edit the report. In the Columns pane, click the dropdown and choose Add Row-Level Formula.
2. Set the Formula Output Type to Number (0 decimals is fine).
3. Use one of these (insert your meeting date/time field from the field picker where I show End Date Time):
- Hours elapsed since the meeting: (NOW() - End Date Time) * 24
- 48-hour countdown, i.e. hours remaining: 48 - ((NOW() - End Date Time) * 24)
For an Event, that field is usually the End Date Time; for a generic Activity/Task report it is the Activity Date. Subtracting two date/times returns a number of DAYS, so multiplying by 24 gives you hours.
4. Name it something like 'Hours Since Meeting' or 'Hrs to 48h', save, and it appears as a column you can drop straight onto the dashboard.
Two things worth knowing: NOW() is evaluated when the report/dashboard REFRESHES, not as a live ticking clock - so schedule a dashboard refresh if you want it staying current. And a report allows a single row-level formula returning a number, so pick either the elapsed version or the countdown version. If you want it colour-coded (e.g. red once it passes 48h), add conditional formatting on that column at the dashboard component level.
If this helps, please mark it as the Best Answer so it helps the next person - thanks :)
