Offsets

Offset in scheduling is used to define how much earlier than the scheduled execution time a task should be created. Its main purpose is to provide a lead time before the actual planned start of a task. This way, the task is available and ready ahead of when it must be executed.

Offset overview

By default, the offset is set to one hour before the planned start time. You can customize this offset, for example, to 30 minutes before the planned start time.

The offset determines when the task is created relative to the scheduled start. For example, if the start date is at 11:00 and the offset is 30 minutes, the task is created at 10:30. If the offset isn’t changed, it remains at the default (one hour before).

The offset interacts with the start date and recurrence configuration. For recurring tasks, the offset applies to each instance, for example, daily or weekly repeats.

Example use case

The calendar shows events based on their planned start and planned end dates. For template schedules, the calendar uses the start and end boundaries defined in the schedule plan. For custom shift-based schedules, it uses the relevant shift start and end times. The offset controls when the task is created compared to the actual start time:

• If the offset is 0, the task is created at the actual start time.
• If the offset is one hour, the task is created one hour before the actual start time.

This approach makes the task available before execution when needed, while the calendar continues to display the planned start and end times.