Schedule & Timezone
DSM Cutoff Time and Grace Period Explained
How the DSM cutoff time and grace period work together to determine timeliness scoring for daily updates.
The DSM cutoff time and grace period are the two settings that determine whether a daily update is scored as On Time, Grace Period, or Late.
The Cutoff Time
The cutoff is a specific time each working day (e.g. 11:00am) by which updates should be submitted. It's set by your admin in Settings → Organization → Schedule.
Updates posted before the cutoff are marked On Time and receive full timeliness credit.
The Grace Period
The grace period is a buffer window after the cutoff (e.g. 30 minutes). Updates posted during the grace period (between 11:00am and 11:30am in this example) are marked Grace Period — they incur a small timeliness penalty but are not fully marked as Late.
This buffer exists because real working days have interruptions. A brief delay shouldn't cost the same as submitting hours late.
Late
Updates posted after both the cutoff and the grace period are marked Late and receive a lower timeliness score.
Summary
| Submission time | Status | Timeliness score |
|---|---|---|
| Before cutoff | On Time | Full credit |
| Between cutoff and cutoff + grace period | Grace Period | Partial credit |
| After cutoff + grace period | Late | Reduced score |
Which Timezone Is Used?
This depends on your org's cutoff timezone mode:
- Org timezone: Cutoff is evaluated in the org's timezone for all members
- User timezone: Cutoff is evaluated in each member's personal timezone
See Setting your personal timezone and Configuring working days and hours for more context.
Team and Individual Overrides
Teams and individual members can have their own cutoff time and grace period that override the org default. This is useful for teams working in significantly different timezones. See Team-level schedule overrides.