---
title: "Add an estimated closing date to a lead"
description: "Add an estimated closing date to your leads, view them by closing date and get a clear sales forecast."
url: https://help.nocrm.io/en/articles/106-add-an-estimated-closing-date-to-a-lead
collection: "Lead Properties"
updated: 2026-11-05
language: en
alternates: [de, it, pt-br, es, fr]
---

# Add an estimated closing date to a lead

Add an estimated closing date to your leads, view them by closing date and get a clear sales forecast.

When managing your leads, you need them in pipelines to understand where you're at in your [sales process](https://www.nocrm.io/academy/how-to-set-up-a-consistent-sales-process), and an amount associated with the sale. You also need to have an idea of when you're going to close the deal.

Add an estimated closing date to your leads to get a clear forecast of your sales.

## How do you add an estimated closing date to a lead?

Follow these steps:

1.  Open the lead.
    
2.  Click the **Estimated closing date** button, next to the [Set amount](https://help.nocrm.io/en/articles/105-amount-probability.md) button.
    
3.  Choose the estimated closing date.
    

You can also fill in the **Estimated closing date** field when you create a lead with **\+ New lead**.

## How do you pre-fill the estimated closing date automatically?

As an admin, you can make sure all leads have an estimated closing date, so you get relevant data in your pipeline and statistics. Follow these steps:

1.  Click your avatar at the top right.
    
2.  Go to **Admin panel** > **Account management** > **Preferences**.
    
3.  Check **When creating a lead, pre-fill the estimated closing date according to the account's average duration to close leads**.
    

> **Success:** **Best practice**: With this option, you can also evaluate whether you are on time or late to close a lead, based on your average performance.

## How do you view your leads by estimated closing date?

From the [pipeline view](https://help.nocrm.io/en/articles/15-pipeline-view.md), you can also display your leads by estimated closing date: on the **Leads** page, click **Closing dates pipeline**.

You can choose to view them by week, month or quarter. 6 sections are displayed:

-   4 weeks, months or quarters.
    
-   2 extra sections for leads without an estimated closing date or with a closing date in the past.
    

To change the estimated closing date of a lead, drag and drop it from one week, month or quarter to another.

> **Warning:** **Important**: If you move a lead to the first column, its estimated closing date is removed.

## How do you analyze your sales forecast?

Once you've set the estimated closing date, it's taken into account in the [Forecast](https://help.nocrm.io/en/articles/53-sales-forecast.md) report of your statistics, so you have an idea of how much money you will be making in the future.