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SF-0134 · Scenario · Medium

How can we create time dependent or Scheduled action in process builder?

✓ Verified by Vikas Singhal · Last reviewed 5/17/2026 · Updated for Spring '26

In Process Builder, every criteria node has two action regions: Immediate Actions and Scheduled Actions. To make an action time-dependent, you drag it into the Scheduled Actions section and set the offset.

The setup

  1. Open the process and click on a criteria node
  2. Below the criteria, you see two regions:
    • Immediate Actions
    • Scheduled Actions
  3. Click Set Schedule on the scheduled actions side
  4. Define the schedule:
    • N days/hours from now (or from a field value)
    • N days/hours before a date field on the record (e.g. 3 days before Close Date)
    • N days/hours after a date field
  5. Add the scheduled action (Update Records, Email Alert, etc.)

The schedule reference points

The schedule can be anchored to:

  • When the process runs — “1 day from now”
  • A date/datetime field on the record — “5 days before Close_Date”
  • A formula that returns a date

This gives you more flexibility than Workflow’s time-dependent actions, which can only anchor to record save or a field.

How the queue works

Once a process creates a scheduled action, it’s queued — visible at Setup → Paused Flow Interviews (which is also where Process Builder scheduled actions show up, because internally Process Builder is now a flow). When the scheduled time arrives:

  1. The platform pulls the queued action
  2. Re-evaluates the process’s criteria against the current record state
  3. If criteria still match, the action fires
  4. If criteria no longer match, the action is silently discarded

This is the same re-evaluation behaviour as Workflow time-dependent actions.

Common patterns

  • Send reminder email 7 days before Close Date — schedule action 7 days before Opportunity.CloseDate, immediate action = email alert
  • Auto-close stale Cases 14 days after last update — schedule action 14 days from LastModifiedDate
  • Renewal warning 30 days before contract end — schedule action 30 days before Contract.End_Date

Limitations

  • Minimum time — Process Builder’s smallest unit is 1 hour. You can’t schedule for less. See the next question.
  • Cannot schedule on platform-event processes — only on record-change processes
  • The queue uses governor limits — large bulk inserts can hit the Paused Flow Interviews limit

In Flow

The Flow equivalent is the Scheduled Path in a Record-Triggered Flow. Same concept, better UI, and Flow scheduled paths support minutes as the unit — finer granularity than Process Builder’s 1-hour minimum.

What interviewers want

  • The location: Scheduled Actions region of a criteria node
  • The anchor options: now, before/after a field, formula
  • The minimum unit: hours (process builder) — for minutes you need Flow

Verified against: Salesforce Help — Process Builder Scheduled Actions. Last reviewed 2026-05-17 for Spring ‘26 release.