Quick Answer
The answer is 9:45 AM Monday. This is correct because the SLA breach time calculation with a business schedule in ServiceNow only counts time within the defined schedule—9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. The incident entered 'In Progress' at 4:45 PM on Friday, leaving only 15 minutes of the 1-hour SLA duration before the schedule closes at 5 PM; the remaining 45 minutes must be fulfilled starting Monday at 9 AM, pushing the breach to 9:45 AM. On the ServiceNow Certified System Administrator CSA exam, this tests your understanding of how business schedules pause and resume SLA timers, a common trap where candidates forget to subtract the elapsed business time from the total duration. A helpful memory tip: think of the business schedule as a “time bank” that only opens during working hours—always calculate the remaining minutes after the schedule closes, then add them to the next opening time.
This SNOW-CSA practice question tests your understanding of reporting, sla and imports. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An admin has set up an SLA on the Incident table with a condition 'Priority = 1' and a duration of 1 hour. The SLA is triggered when the incident state becomes 'In Progress'. The SLA definition includes a business schedule that only counts business hours (9 AM to 5 PM, Monday-Friday). An incident with Priority 1 is created at 4:30 PM on Friday and state is changed to 'In Progress' at 4:45 PM. At what time will the SLA breach if it is not resolved?
9:45 AM Monday.
Correct calculation based on business hours.
5:45 PM Friday.
Why wrong: This ignores the business schedule and assumes 24/7 counting.
4:45 PM Saturday.
Why wrong: The schedule does not include weekends.
4:45 PM Monday.
Why wrong: This would be if the full hour was counted from Monday start, but only 45 minutes remain.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
9:45 AM Monday.
The SLA has a duration of 1 hour but uses a business schedule that only counts hours between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday through Friday. The incident entered 'In Progress' at 4:45 PM on Friday, so only 15 minutes of business time remain that day (4:45 PM to 5:00 PM). The remaining 45 minutes of SLA duration must be fulfilled starting Monday at 9:00 AM, pushing the breach time to 9:45 AM Monday.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
9:45 AM Monday.
Why this is correct
Correct calculation based on business hours.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
5:45 PM Friday.
Why it's wrong here
This ignores the business schedule and assumes 24/7 counting.
4:45 PM Saturday.
Why it's wrong here
The schedule does not include weekends.
4:45 PM Monday.
Why it's wrong here
This would be if the full hour was counted from Monday start, but only 45 minutes remain.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates forget to account for the partial business hour consumed on Friday and instead assume the entire SLA duration starts fresh on Monday, leading them to pick 4:45 PM Monday.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, ServiceNow SLA timers use the business schedule's defined intervals to calculate elapsed time; only seconds within the schedule's active windows count toward the duration. A common subtlety is that the SLA starts counting from the trigger time (4:45 PM), not from the next business hour, so partial business hours at the end of a day are consumed first. In real-world scenarios, this behavior ensures that SLAs with limited support windows (e.g., 9-5) accurately reflect available working time, preventing unrealistic breach expectations outside of business hours.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the SNOW-CSA exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Reporting, SLA and Imports — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Reporting, SLA and Imports — This question tests Reporting, SLA and Imports — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: 9:45 AM Monday. — The SLA has a duration of 1 hour but uses a business schedule that only counts hours between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday through Friday. The incident entered 'In Progress' at 4:45 PM on Friday, so only 15 minutes of business time remain that day (4:45 PM to 5:00 PM). The remaining 45 minutes of SLA duration must be fulfilled starting Monday at 9:00 AM, pushing the breach time to 9:45 AM Monday.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Same concept, more angles
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An organization has a Service Level Agreement (SLA) defined on the Incident table with a condition of 'Category is Network' and a duration of 4 hours. The SLA is triggered when the incident state changes from 'New' to 'In Progress'. A network incident is created and assigned to the Network Support group. The incident state is changed to 'In Progress' immediately. After 3 hours, the incident is resolved. However, the SLA shows a breach despite the resolution being within 4 hours. What is the most likely cause?
hardWhy A: Option A is correct because the SLA breach occurred despite the incident being resolved within 4 hours of moving to 'In Progress'. The most likely cause is that the SLA stop condition is set to 'State is Resolved', but the SLA was paused due to a schedule (e.g., after-hours pause) and the pause time was not counted, causing the actual working time to exceed 4 hours. In ServiceNow, SLA schedules define when the clock is running; if the incident was resolved during a pause period, the SLA timer would have stopped only when the schedule resumed, and the elapsed working time could exceed the 4-hour duration.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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