topic [Closed] Support with custom formula: "OR" not working as expected in Data Hub

[Closed] Support with custom formula: "OR" not working as expected

WAllroggen — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 09:01:26 GMT

Closed: Preview only showed limited data - Formula works as expected.

Hi Community,
I am looking to create a field which should be true, if a contact has entered either the stage of marketingqualifiedlead OR salesqualifiedlead.

So, this is what I wrote:
IF (IS_KNOWN([CONTACT.hs_v2_date_entered_salesqualifiedlead]) OR IS_KNOWN([CONTACT.hs_v2_date_entered_marketingqualifiedlead]), true, false)

However, the result is actually only those contacts, for which both are true -> basicly what I would expect "AND" would do.

Looking forward to your ideas.
Thank you,
Willem

Re: Support with custom formula: "OR" not working as expected

karstenkoehler — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 08:54:17 GMT

Hi @WAllroggen,

Looks correct to me – could you share a screenshot of the configuration that shows the 'incorrect' behavior?

I would probably reach out to HubSpot support directly in-app via chat or email to check if this is expected behavior.

You could also try a nested if statement and see if that works: IF(IS_KNOWN([CONTACT.hs_v2_date_entered_salesqualifiedlead]), true,
IF(IS_KNOWN([CONTACT.hs_v2_date_entered_marketingqualifiedlead]), true, false))

Best regards

Re: Support with custom formula: "OR" not working as expected

WAllroggen — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 08:59:12 GMT

Hi Karsten,

thank you. I just saw I was tricked by the preview - which showed less results in the combined formula in comparison to having only one field.

My formula is working as expected.
I will close this topic.

Re: [Closed] Support with custom formula: "OR" not working as expected

RubenBurdin — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 20:27:51 GMT

Hi @WAllroggen , thanks for circling back and closing the loop. This one catches a lot of people, so it’s useful context for others reading later.

You’re right, the formula itself is valid. The confusion almost always comes from the preview behavior, not the logic. In HubSpot, the preview only evaluates against a limited sample of records, and it doesn’t guarantee representativeness across lifecycle edge cases. When you combine conditions with OR, that sample can look misleadingly “stricter” than reality.

In practice, once the property is saved and evaluated across the full contact set, IS_KNOWN(A) OR IS_KNOWN(B) behaves exactly as expected. Karsten’s nested IF suggestion is functionally equivalent, but not required if the preview is the only thing throwing you off. Good call to trust the actual data over the preview. This is one of those quiet HubSpot gotchas that isn’t obvious until you’ve been burned by it once.