--- sourceDocument: Yokohama IT Service Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/yokohama/it-service-management Release : - yokohama ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Yokohama IT Service Management ft:clusterId : - itsm bundleId : - itsm workflow : - Technology --- # Actual and business elapsed times # Actual and business elapsed times {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Yokohama Updated July 22, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Actual and Business Elapsed Times Task SLA records in ServiceNow track two types of elapsed times:Actual elapsed timeandBusiness elapsed time. Understanding the difference between these is essential for creating accurate SLA definitions and generating meaningful reports. Show full answer Show less - **Actual elapsed time** measures time continuously on a 24x7 basis. - **Business elapsed time** measures time only within the SLA's defined schedule (e.g., business hours, weekdays). If no schedule is specified in the SLA definition, business elapsed time defaults to actual elapsed time unless disabled via the `com.snc.sla.alwayspopulatebusinessfields` property in the SLA Engine. ## Key Features * **Schedule-based timing:** Business elapsed time uses the SLA schedule to calculate time, pausing outside defined working hours (e.g., nights and weekends). * **Configurable displays:** By default, task SLA records display actual elapsed time, but you can configure them to show business elapsed time as well. * **Elapsed percentages:** Calculated separately for actual and business elapsed times, which influence SLA notifications and escalations. ## Practical Examples Consider an SLA with a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekday schedule. If a task SLA starts at 2 p.m. on a weekday, by 9 a.m. the next weekday: * Business elapsed time = 3 hours * Actual elapsed time = 19 hours Another example: an incident opened Friday at 9 p.m. (outside business hours) to Monday at 9:30 a.m. shows: * Business elapsed time = 1 hour 30 minutes (time during business hours only) * Actual elapsed time = 60 hours 30 minutes (full real-time elapsed) ## How SLA Workflow Uses Business Elapsed Time The SLA workflow relies on the **SLA Percentage Timer** activity to trigger notifications and escalations at defined thresholds (e.g., 50%, 75% of the SLA duration). These thresholds are calculated using business elapsed time, ensuring that timers only count during active business hours. For example, on an 8-hour SLA with a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule: * The 50% threshold triggers after 4 hours of business elapsed time, regardless of how many calendar hours have passed. * If the SLA starts at 4 p.m. Monday, the 50% timer fires at 10 a.m. Tuesday, excluding overnight hours. This behavior ensures SLA notifications and escalations reflect actual working time rather than continuous clock time. Task SLA records contain two sets of timing information: Actual elapsed and Business elapsed. The difference between these two sets of timing is vital when you create and report on SLA definitions. * Actual elapsed values are calculated on a 24x7 basis. * Business elapsed values are calculated based on the schedule specified in the task SLA. The schedule is taken from the SLA definition by default. Note: If no schedule is specified, then the Business elapsed time is the same as the Actual elapsed time. This can be disabled by changing the com.snc.sla.always_populate_business_fields property to false in the SLA Engine. When this property is set to false, the Business fields will be 0 or empty. {#r_ElapsedTimeCounting__ul_d4j_1fr_cs}By default, the related list for the task SLA record displays the actual elapsed time only. You can configure the list to also display the business elapsed time. ## Elapsed times and schedules Consider a scenario where an SLA has a defined schedule of 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays. With this schedule, the difference between actual and business elapsed times can be significant. If a task SLA starts at 2 p.m. on a weekday, by 9 a.m. the next weekday it shows 3 business hours and 19 actual hours. Figure 1. Business elapsed time vs actual elapsed time ![Actual elapsed time and business elapsed time within actual]() If a schedule defines an 8-hour working day, 24 hours of business elapsed time equals 3 days of actual elapsed time. ## Example For example, an incident is opened on Friday, December 12 at 9 pm, outside of the SLA schedule of 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays. If the current time is the following Monday at 9:30 am, then: * Business elapsed time is 1 hour and 30 minutes because the SLA business timer stopped at 5 pm on Friday and restarted at 8 am on Monday. * Actual elapsed time is 60 hours and 30 minutes, representing the real-time between the incident being opened and the current time. {#r_ElapsedTimeCounting__ul_krc_4jr_cs}Elapsed percentages are also similarly calculated. The actual elapsed percentage is over 750% while the business elapsed percentage is 19% on an 8 hour SLA. ## How the SLA workflow uses business elapsed percentage {#r_ElapsedTimeCounting__section_x5w_ht4_zjc} The SLA workflow uses the SLA Percentage Timer activity to trigger notifications at defined thresholds --- for example, at 50% and 75% of the SLA duration. These thresholds are calculated using Business elapsed time. When a timer fires, the SLA workflow evaluates how much business elapsed time has been consumed against the total SLA duration (as defined in the SLA definition's schedule). The timer does not advance while the SLA schedule is inactive --- for example, overnight or on weekends. For example, on an 8-hour SLA with a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekday schedule: 50% threshold : The 50% timer fires after 4 hours of business elapsed time --- regardless of how many wall-clock hours have passed. Example timing : If the SLA starts at 4 p.m. on Monday, the 50% timer fires at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, after the overnight gap is excluded. {#r_ElapsedTimeCounting__dl_y5w_ht4_zjc} This confirms that notifications and escalations reflect actual working time, not calendar time. **Related concepts** * [Flows for SLA](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/X63Zm5huC_MsbEFjkUDrEg "Use the flow actions to send SLA notifications when the duration specified in the SLA definition is crossed.") **Related topics** * [SLA Percentage Timer workflow activity](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=r_SLAPercentageTimer&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-build-workflows&ft:locale=en-US)