Many organizations want to track the Number of Days between critical steps in their Sales or Production cycle. Some want to track the Number of Days between the Appointment and the Sold On Date, or the Number of Days between the Sold On Date and the Project Install Date. This can easily be accomplished by creating a Custom Formula Field.
In this Example, we are going to track the Number of Days between the Appointment Date and the Sold On Date. Remember, the Appointment Date is recorded on the Appointment record, while the Sold On Date is recorded on the Sale record. Because the two Date fields we want to compare are NOT on the same Object, we will need to first move our Appointment Date forward, onto the Sale Object.
Before starting, check your System to see on which Object the Date Fields you want to compare reside.
You must be logged in as the System Administrator User to create Custom Fields.
Click on Setup
Go to Create > Objects
I will first check the Sale object to make sure the Appointment Date has not already been created by a previous Admin. It does not exist so let's create it:
In the Custom Fields & Relationships section, click New
Choose a Data Type of Formula:
Next give your Field the Name "Appointment Date" in the Field Label and choose an Formula Return Type of: Date:
Click Next and Save the Appointment Date field.
Again on the Sale Object, in the Custom Fields & Relationships section, click New
Choose a Data Type of Formula:
Next give your Field the Name "Appt to Sold Days" in the Field Label and choose an Formula Return Type of: Number, and choose 0 Decimal Places:
Step 3: If not already selected, choose the Advanced Formula Tab:
Then click the "Insert Field" button and choose the Sold On Date Field and click Insert:
Next click "Insert Operator" and choose an Operator of "- Subtract"
And now click the "Insert Field" button again, and this time choose the Appointment Date field we created earlier, and click Insert:
When finished, your formula should look something like this:
Click Next and Save.
The new Field you've created for "Appt to Sold Days" can now be pulled into any Sales Report using the single-object Report Type of Sales.
If you are using a multi-object Report Type (like Appointments with or without Sales) and would like to have this Field available in that Report Type, see also: Adding Custom Fields to Report Types.