Prerequisites
- The Four Map Data To Options — Calculated fields default to Do Not Map
Work Out Values with Calculated Fields
Arithmetic the person filling in the form does not have to do
A calculated field takes two values, applies an operator, and produces a result. The values can come from other fields on the form or be fixed numbers you set.
It earns its place in two ways. It shows the person something useful as they fill the form in — an estimated total updating as they choose — which builds confidence. And it gives you a single comparable number on the contact afterwards, instead of several raw answers you have to interpret each time.
Before You Begin
- At least one numeric field on the form — number, range or linear scale — if you are calculating from answers
- A custom field to hold the result, if you want to filter on it
Steps
Add the numeric fields first
A calculated field can only draw on fields that already exist, so add the questions it depends on before you add the calculation.
Only numeric fields are eligible as sources — number, range and linear scale, plus other calculated fields.
Add the calculated field
Find Calculated in the left panel and add it. Give it a clear label — the person filling in the form will see it, so Estimated monthly cost rather than Calc 1.
Set the two sources
Source A Type and Source B Type each offer Form Field or Static Value.
Choose Form Field and pick from the numeric fields on the form. Choose Static Value and type a fixed number.
A common pattern is one of each: an answer multiplied by a fixed rate.
Choose the operator
Six are available: add, subtract, multiply, divide, squared and cubed.
Squared and cubed use Source A only, so Source B is ignored for those.
Format the result
Number Format offers decimal, integer, currency and percentage. Match the meaning — a cost should read as currency, a headcount as an integer.
Prefix and Suffix wrap the result with text, so you can show $1,200 per month rather than a bare number.
Decide where the result goes
Two options, and they are not exclusive.
Map Data To sends the result to the contact like any other field. Choose CRM Field and pick a custom field if you want to filter or segment on it. Note that calculated fields default to Do Not Map, so this needs setting deliberately.
Store Result in Hidden Field puts the result into a hidden field on the same form, which is useful when you want to carry it somewhere else or feed it into another calculation.
Test the arithmetic
Preview the form and work through it with numbers you can check in your head. Confirm the result updates as you change the inputs, and that the formatting reads correctly.
Test zero and the largest plausible value too. Zero is a valid answer and is recorded as one, and a divide where the second value can be zero needs thinking about.
Four worked examples
Ask how many units, licences or people they need as a number field. Add a calculated field with Source A as that field, Source B as a static value holding your per-unit price, and multiply.
Format as currency with a suffix of per month.
The person sees a real figure before they talk to anybody, which qualifies them without a conversation — and you get a comparable number on every contact.
Ask two or three questions on linear scales — urgency, budget confidence, decision authority. Add a calculated field that combines them.
Map the result to a custom field, and do not show it prominently; this one is for you, not for them.
You can then sort and filter leads by score, and route the strong ones differently. Conditional logic can act on the score too — only offering a booking above a threshold, for instance.
Where you ask for two related quantities — current headcount and planned hires, existing contacts and expected growth — add them together.
Map the total to a custom field. One number you can segment on beats two you have to add up every time you look.
Set up the calculation, then use Store Result in Hidden Field to put it into a hidden field.
This is useful when you want the result available under a different label, or when a second calculated field needs to build on the first. Map whichever of the two you actually want on the contact — not both, or you will store the same number twice.
Info: Calculated fields default to Do Not Map. The result is shown on the form and stored with the completion, but it does not reach the contact until you set a destination. If you have gone to the trouble of calculating something, it is usually worth mapping.
Tip: Keep calculations simple enough to explain. A figure somebody cannot account for is worse than no figure at all, and if a person queries an estimate you want to be able to say exactly how it was reached.
Result
The form now does arithmetic for the person completing it, and leaves you a single comparable number on each contact.
If the result is always empty, check that its source fields are numeric and that the person actually answered them — a calculation from a blank field has nothing to work with.
