Skip the Workflow Delay: Use Calculated Properties Instead

Step-by-Step Tutorial

1. Identify the Property You Want to Automate

Decide which reporting property you want to update automatically. For example, you might want to track partner performance tiers (e.g., Gold, Silver, Bronze) or update a deal status based on other inputs.

2. Create a New Calculated Property

• Go to your HubSpot settings and navigate to the "Properties" section.
• Create a new property and select "Calculated Property" as the type.

3. Define Your Logic Using If & And Statements

• Use If and And logic to set conditions for the property.
• For example:
• If revenue > $50,000 and deal count > 10, set the property to "Gold Partner."
• If revenue > $20,000 and deal count > 5, set it to "Silver Partner."
• Otherwise, set it to "Bronze Partner."

4. Test Your Logic

Input test data and check the property updates correctly against your conditions, then adjust the logic to cover the edge cases.

5. Lock the Reporting Property (Optional)

If the calculated property is tied to a key reporting field, you can lock it as view-only. Nobody can then overwrite it by hand, so the number in the report and the number in the calculation never disagree.

6. Monitor and Optimise

Once implemented, watch the property for a fortnight and check it behaves the way you expected. If needed, refine the logic to handle edge cases or additional inputs.

A Worked Example: GST, Both Ways, Instantly

Partner tiers are the obvious use, but the calculation Australian reporting asks for most often is GST. A tax invoice shows the GST amount separately, so most of our reports need the GST exclusive figure and the GST inclusive figure sitting side by side.

Say your deal amount holds what the customer pays, GST included. Two calculated properties give you the rest, with no workflow in the middle:

• Amount excluding GST: amount / 1.1. A $55,000 deal reads as $50,000.
• GST included in the amount: amount / 11. The same deal reads as $5,000, which is the ATO's own divide by eleven shortcut.

Both update the second the amount changes, and that matters more than it sounds when a tier depends on it. Look again at the Gold Partner rule above, revenue over $50,000. If your revenue field holds GST inclusive figures, a partner sitting on $50,000 has $4,545 of GST inside that number, money that was never theirs or yours, and they get promoted a tier early. Run the tiering off the GST exclusive property and the rule means what you think it means.

Worth checking the steps above against HubSpot's own knowledge base article on calculated properties before you build, since the functions the property editor supports do change.

This is HubSpot doing the arithmetic where the arithmetic belongs: cleaner data, no waiting on enrolment, and one less workflow to maintain. There are more of these, including another calculated property trick for smarter automation and calculating a contact's age from date of birth the same way.

If your reporting is waiting on a queue of workflow enrolments, this is a good place to start, and it is the sort of tidy-up that runs through our RevOps and HubSpot work.