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Formula custom fields

In This Article

Available on Asana Advanced, Enterprise and Enterprise+ tiers, as well as legacy tiers Business and Legacy Enterprise.

Visit our pricing page for more information.

With formula custom fields, you can perform calculations directly in Asana, making managing data easier and significantly enhancing your productivity.

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Some examples of when you can use formula custom fields are:

ExampleFormula
Capacity managementEffort = [Quantity of weeks] * [Allocation]
Time to complete[Completed at] – [Created at]
Time/amount overdue[Completed at] – [Due date]
Billing[Amount per hour] * [Total hours]
Estimated hours([Due Date] – [Start Date]) * [Hrs per week]
Burn rate([Starting Balance] – [Ending Balance]) / [Number of months]
Prioritization([Weight] * [Input]) + ([Weight] * [Input])

You can add these new formula custom fields to your domain’s global custom field library.

Functions

FunctionDefinitionSyntaxExamplesAvailable in

Add

Add two values

Add(value1, value2)

Add([value], number)

[value1] + [value2]

[value] + number

Add([BudgetA], [BudgetB])

Add([Subtotal], 3)

[BudgetA] + [BudgetB]

[Subtotal] + 3

Basic
SubtractSubtract two values

Subtract(value1, value2)

[value1] - [value2]

Subtract(Budget, Spend)

Subtract(Due date, Start date)

[Budget] - [Spend]

[Due date] - [Start date]

Basic
MultiplyMultiply two values

Multiply(value1, value2)

[value1] x [value2]

Multiply(Hours, Rate)

[Hours] * [Rate]

Basic
DivideDivide two values

Divide(value1, value2)

[value1] / [value2]

Divide(Remaining, Total)

[Remaining] / [Total]

Basic
DateAddAdd days to a dateDateAdd(date, number)DateAdd([Due date], 3)Advanced
DateSubtractSubtract days to a dateDateSubtract(date, number)DateSubtract([Due date], 3)Advanced
RollupSum up all subtasks in a new field.
To include main task values, add the field again as shown in the first example.

Rollup(value1)

Rollup(#Field1) + (#Field1)

Rollup(#Field1)

Advanced

 

Inputs

Inputs are the various data types that can be referenced within a formula to perform calculations or generate dynamic content. Most of the available inputs will be the fields that exist on a project or portfolio.

Fields

  • Date and number custom fields added to a project or portfolio can be used as input to a formula.
  • Metadata or attribute fields can also be used for formulas such as:
    • Due date: Allows you to incorporate task due dates into your formulas, enabling dynamic calculations based on deadlines.
    • Start date: Allows you to incorporate the start dates of tasks into your formulas.
    • Created on: Allows you to reference the creation date of tasks within your formulas.
    • Completed on: Allows you to reference task completion dates within your formulas.
Note iconNote

When used in formulas, these fields are always UTC timestamps.

Today input

The "Today" input lets you reference the current date in a formula. This is particularly useful for creating date-based calculations and automatically updating project timelines.

  • The "Today" formula is a midnight timestamp of today’s date.
  • Timezone consideration: The date calculation is influenced by the timezone of the person who created or last edited the formula. This is similar to how time zones are handled in Asana's rules.
  • Dynamic refresh: The value of the "Today" formula refreshes when any user views or loads the project where the formula is being applied. This ensures that the date remains current and up-to-date.

Adding basic formula custom fields

By leveraging the add, subtract, multiply, and divide operators, you can perform a wide range of calculations within Asana and gather powerful insights about your work. Use these formulas to efficiently manage numerical data when creating budgets, analyzing sales figures, calculating capacity, and many more scenarios.

adding basic cf

To add a formula custom field:

  1. You can add a formula custom field from the Customize menu or by clicking +Add field on the column header
  2. Select Formula as the field type
  3. In the Formula builder, you can use any existing numerical custom fields
  4. Choose from Add, Subtract, Multiply, or Divide
  5. Click Create field
 
example

Here, the Event manager wanted to compare resources. To do so, they calculated the difference between the budget and what they spent, so they created the Difference formula custom field. The formula they used in the formula builder was Budget minus (-) Spend.

Another example of when you can use a formula custom field is when you’re trying to calculate your team’s capacity.

 
customfieldtime3.gif

Here, the Event manager calculated the difference between the Estimated time and the Actual time for each task to see which task took more or less time than expected. The formula they used in the formula builder was Estimated time minus (-) Actual time.

Other examples of when you can use formula custom fields are:

  • Capacity management: Quantity of weeks times (x) Allocation = Effort
  • Time to complete: Completed at minus (-) Created at
  • Time/amount overdue: Completed at minus (-) Due date
  • Billing: Amount per hour times (x) Total hours (by person)
Note iconNote

You can add these new formula custom fields to your domain’s global custom field library.

Adding advanced formula custom fields

With advanced formula custom fields, you can create more complex formulas with more than one operator.

advancedcfeffort2.gif

To add an advanced formula custom field:

  1. Add a formula custom field from the Customize menu or by clicking +Add field on the column header
  2. Select Formula as the field type
  3. In the Formula builder, click Switch to advanced mode
  4. From here, you can start typing a function or field or select them from the Functions and Fields menu

Formula chaining

With formula chaining, you can use existing formula custom fields as inputs to another formula you're creating.

For example, if you have an existing formula that's calculating Budget Remaining, you can use this value to build another formula (i.e. Burn Rate = Budget Remaining / Total Budget).

Mixed field types.png

Error messages and limits

Some things to keep in mind as you're building more complex formulas:

  • Both fields must be the same type. If you're using a numeric based formula, other inputs must be numeric based too.
  • Date fields can only be subtracted.
  • You can use up to 10 existing formula custom fields as inputs to a new formula.
  • Formula custom fields that are shared globally with your domain can only use other shared formula custom fields as inputs. Keep in mind that adding a global formula custom field will also add formula input fields to your project as well (you can have up to 100 custom fields in a single project).
  • A formula that contains another formula cannot be dependent on itself. For example, if Formula C = (Formula A) + (Formula B), you won't be able to use Formula C as input to Formula A or B.

You can create up to two layers of formulas when creating a new formula:

  • Valid: Formula 1 = Custom field A + Custom field B
  • Valid: Formula 2 = Formula 1 / Custom field C (1st layer)
  • Valid: Formula 3 = Formula 2 * Formula 1 (2nd layer)
  • Not possible: Formula 4 = Formula 3 * Formula 1

Sorting numeric custom fields

You can sort your formula custom fields by ascending or descending.

sorting

To sort:

  1. Click Sort
  2. Select the custom field you want to sort by
  3. Select Ascending or Descending
  4. Click Apply
  5. You can also click on the drop-down next to the custom field to sort

Reporting on formula custom fields

Use formula custom fields when creating charts to visualize data.

reporting on formulas

To create a chart using formula custom fields:

  1. Navigate to the Dashboard tab
  2. Click +Add chart
  3. On the Y-axis, select the formula custom field
  4. Click Create
Note iconNote

Learn more on how to create charts with our Reporting Help Center article.

Using formula custom fields as effort in workload

You can use formula custom fields as the effort when creating universal or portfolio workloads.

effort in workload

For example, here we are using the formula custom field Capacity as the team's effort.

Using formulas in portfolios

Portfolios allow you to oversee multiple projects and gain a comprehensive view of your organization's initiatives. By incorporating formula custom fields into portfolios, you can perform calculations, track key metrics, and generate insights across various projects. Formula custom fields enable you to enhance decision-making, optimize resource allocation, and gain a holistic understanding of your portfolio.

Add a basic or advanced formula custom field to your portfolios through the + button or Customize menu.

Using formulas in bundles

Bundles are powerful tools for standardizing processes and ensuring consistency across multiple projects. By incorporating formula custom fields within bundles, you can perform calculations and track key metrics specific to your standardized processes.

bundle formula cf.gif

To add a global formula to a bundle:

  1. From the Customize menu, navigate to bundles
  2. Choose the bundle you want to edit
  3. Click Edit
  4. Scroll down to Fields and click +Add custom field
  5. From here, you can create a new formula custom field or choose an existing global formula custom field from the library
  6. Click Continue and then Apply changes

Formatting

Formula custom fields support the same formatting as numerical custom fields. This allows you to display your calculation results with the appropriate units and formatting.

Formatting

When creating or editing the formula field, click Formatting to select your preferred format and decimal places.

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Formula custom fields