---
title: "Set an SLA policy for a team"
description: "Create an SLA policy in the CloudFly Helpdesk console: pick the team, the priority, the target hours, the working calendar and the stage that counts as reached."
updated: "2026-08-28"
audience: [administrator]
source: "https://helpdesk-docs.svr1.feedapp.click/en/ticket/chinh-sach-sla"
---

An SLA policy attaches a deadline to the tickets that match its criteria, then
follows each one until it is met or breached. This page creates a policy and
spells out the two rules that surprise people.

## Goal [#goal]

The team runs one live SLA policy: matching tickets carry a deadline computed
against a working calendar, and their met-or-breached status shows on the
Kanban card.

## Before you begin [#before-you-begin]

* The **administrator** role. Any other account opening this screen sees only
  **Administrator only**.
* A team whose columns exist, and a clear idea of which one means "met" — see
  [Configure the columns of a team's board](/en/ticket/cau-hinh-cot).
* A usable working calendar: [Set working hours, shifts and leave days](/en/ticket/lich-lam-viec).
* The policy form itself carries no translations. The bold labels below are the
  English strings the console prints in either language.

## Steps [#steps]

1. Open **Tickets** → **SLA Policies** and press **New policy**.
2. Fill **Title** with a name your operations people will recognise.
   **Description (optional)** is an internal note and never reaches a customer.
3. Pick the **Team**. The field locks once the policy is saved, so a wrong team
   means creating a second policy.
4. Pick exactly one level in **Priority filter**. Leaving it empty is a trap —
   read the troubleshooting table before you decide.
5. Fill **Target (business hours)** — hours of *work*, not hours on the wall
   clock. The field accepts quarter-hour steps.
6. Pick the **Working calendar**. The clock only runs inside the shifts of that
   calendar.
7. Pick the **Reach stage** — the column a ticket has to arrive in for the
   commitment to count as met.
8. Tick the columns under **Excluded stages (clock pauses while ticket sits
   here)**. Time a ticket spends in those columns is added back to the deadline.

   ![The SLA policy form showing Title, Description, Team, Priority filter, Target (business hours) and Working calendar fields, with the Team value masked](https://helpdesk-docs.svr1.feedapp.click/images/docs/ticket/chinh-sach-sla/01-bieu-mau-chinh-sach.en.webp)

   *The SLA policy form. The team name is masked because the picture was taken on live data.*
9. Press **Create policy**. The console returns to the list and re-evaluates every
   ticket on the team against the new policy.

## Verify [#verify]

On **SLA Policies** the new policy sits under its team's name. The **Priority**
column prints the level you picked, **Target** prints the hours with an `h`,
and **Reach stage** prints the column name.

Open the team's Kanban board: matching tickets now carry an SLA badge, and the
card drawer shows a **Deadline**.

> **Note:** The deadline always counts from the moment the ticket was **created**, even
> when the policy was added later. A new policy can therefore mark a handful of
> older tickets as breached the instant it is saved.

## Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]

| Symptom                                                               | Cause                                                                                                                                                                                                             | What to do                                                                                         |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The policy matches nothing except **Low** tickets                     | The zero-star default: a policy with **no** **Priority filter** matches only `low` priority tickets, **not** every ticket. The box reads *Any (default)* while the policy list prints **low (default)** | Edit the policy and pick the level you meant; to cover all four levels, create four policies       |
| A ticket reached the **Reach stage** and still reads **SLA breached** | `failed` is permanent: once the deadline has passed, arriving at the stage afterwards does not turn it back to `satisfied`                                                                                        | Nothing on that ticket will change it. The breach stays in the **SLA Report**, which is the intent |
| **Target** is 4 hours yet the deadline lands two days out             | The clock only runs inside the shifts of the chosen **Working calendar**                                                                                                                                          | Check the shifts on the calendar the policy uses                                                   |
| There is no field for a customer filter or a tag filter               | The page description mentions customer filters, but the console form offers **Team** and **Priority filter** only                                                                                                 | Work with those two; the rest has no input on the form                                             |
| Deleting a policy also erased the SLA status on existing tickets      | Deleting a policy removes the statuses it tracked                                                                                                                                                                 | Edit the policy instead of deleting it when the numbers matter                                     |

## Next steps [#next-steps]

* [Set working hours, shifts and leave days](/en/ticket/lich-lam-viec)
* [Configure the columns of a team's board](/en/ticket/cau-hinh-cot)
* [Track tickets on your team's Kanban board](/en/ticket/bang-kanban)