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sourceDocument: Australia Governance, Risk, and Compliance
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/governance-risk-compliance

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ft:publication_title :

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# States for an exercise and crisis event

# States for an exercise and crisis event {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Australia
* 
* Updated March 12, 2026
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read

Summarize  
![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI  
This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.  

## Summary of States for an Exercise and Crisis Event

This content explains the lifecycle states for managing exercise and crisis events within ServiceNow.
It covers the progression of event states, approval workflows, and the states of individual event tasks.
Understanding these states helps ServiceNow customers effectively track, approve, and close crisis or exercise events, ensuring proper governance and documentation throughout the event lifecycle.
Show full answer Show less  

## Event States

* **Pending:** Initial state of an event before approval.
* **Pending Approval:** Event is awaiting approval after submission. Only work notes can be updated. Approval rules trigger approvers to review the event. BCM program managers can approve or reject events.
* **Returned:** Event rejected and sent back. From here, the event can be resubmitted for approval, or closed as complete or incomplete. Editable fields include description, results, and work notes. Event asset states can be edited, and comments or attachments added to tasks.
* **Approved:** Event approved and additional UI actions become available, including generating PDFs, copying the event as a template, viewing a 360º relationship view, editing, saving, or deleting the event.
* **Closed Complete:** Event is closed with all tasks complete.
* **Closed Incomplete:** Event is closed but some tasks remain incomplete.
* **Closed:** Final closed state of the event.

## Event Task States and Transitions

* **Open:** Default state for event tasks without dependencies when an event starts.
* **Pending:** Tasks waiting on dependent recovery tasks remain pending until dependencies close, then move to Open.
* **Skip Task:** Available only to BCM program managers for Pending or Open tasks during Work In Progress state. Skipping moves tasks to Closed Skipped without start/end times.
* **Trigger:** BCM program managers can forcibly open a Pending task, ignoring dependencies.
* **Work In Progress:** Marks a task as actively being worked on. Actual start time is recorded automatically if not manually set.
* **Closed Complete:** Task is finished successfully. Actual end time is recorded automatically if not set.
* **Closed Incomplete:** Task is closed but incomplete, with actual end time recorded similarly.

## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

By following these defined states and transitions, ServiceNow customers can:

* Maintain clear visibility and control over the status of crisis and exercise events.
* Ensure proper approval workflows with audit trails and history for compliance.
* Effectively manage event tasks, including dependencies, skipping, and triggering tasks as needed.
* Generate formal reports and snapshots via PDFs and templates for documentation and future planning.
* Utilize 360º views to understand event relationships comprehensively.

This structured approach supports robust crisis management practices and streamlined event handling within the ServiceNow platform.  
This section describes the states of progression for an exercise and crisis event.

## States for an exercise and crisis event {#states-for-exercise-events__section_vzk_1vk_cyb}

{#states-for-exercise-events__table_lmp_l5p_cyb__entry__2}

| State | Description |
|-|-|
| Pending | First state of the event. |
| Pending Approval | State of the event when an approval is requested. When you select Submit for Approval, the event is set to the Pending Approval state. In this state, you can only update the Work notes field in the event form. If any approval rules are configured for the event, then the approvals are generated and sent to the approvers. If no approval records are associated with the event in the requested state, then you can either select Reject or Approve. You can view the approval details of an event in the Approvals tab with the name of the approver, level of approval, and state of the approval. You can view the approval history of the event in the Approval History tab such as the approval state, name of the approver, event number, and so on. Note: If you are a BCM program manager, you can see the Approve and Reject buttons. |
| Returned | State of the event when an event is rejected. The state is set to Returned. It can be moved to the Submit for Approval, Closed Complete, or Closed Incomplete states. Since this action is related to an event only, you can update the description, results, and work notes in the form. When an event is in the Returned state, you can edit the state of the event asset. From the Returned state onwards, you can only add your comments and the attachments to the event task. |
| Closed Incomplete | State of the event when an event is incomplete. |
| Closed complete | When all tasks are complete, the event moves from the Work in progress to the Closed complete state. |
| Approved | Approved state of the event. When an event is approved, the state is set to the Approved state. You can perform additional UI actions: Generate PDF :   Download the PDF of an exercise or crisis event for reference. When you select Generate PDF, the PDF attachment is available in the Activity panel of the Details tab. For information on generating the PDF of an exercise or crisis event, see [Generate event reports in PDF or Microsoft Word](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/nhVcA12MZv4EhOGQuc9LQg "Generate the PDF or Microsoft Word copy of an exercise or a crisis event in the BCM Configurable Workspace and save it for future reference."). Copy :   Save a copy of an exercise or crisis event for future reference as a template. 360º view :   Visualize the 360º representation of an exercise or crisis event. For information on how to view 360º relationships of an exercise or crisis event, see [View 360° relationships for exercises and crises](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/gxeCp7sxYzSpNdvxPrYeOA "Visualize the 360° relationships for an exercise or a crisis event and the associated entities in BCM UIB Workspace. You can access the 360° view at any time while creating an exercise and a crisis event."). Delete :   Delete an exercise or crisis event. Edit :   Edit an exercise or crisis event. Save :   Save an exercise or crisis event. |
| Closed | Closed state of the event. |
[Table 1. States for an exercise and crisis event]

{#states-for-exercise-events__table_lmp_l5p_cyb} The state transitions of an event task are described in the table.
{#states-for-exercise-events__table_zz5_w5p_cyb__entry__2}

| State | Description |
|-|-|
| Open | Open state of the event task. When an event is started, its event tasks that do not have a dependent recovery task move to the Open state. |
| Pending | Pending state of the event task. The event tasks that are dependent on other recovery tasks are in the Pending state when the event is started. After the dependent tasks are closed, the parent event task moves to the Open state. |
| Skip Task | Skip Task action for the event task. This action is available only if you have logged in as the BCM program manager. The Skip action is displayed when the task is in the Pending or Open state and the event must be in Work in Progress state. Selecting Skip Task moves the task to the Closed Skipped state. The actual start time and actual end time at this state are empty. |
| Trigger | Trigger action for the event task. This action is available only if you have logged in as the BCM program manager. The task is in the Pending state. Selecting Trigger moves the task to the Open state irrespective of its dependencies. |
| Work In Progress | Work In Progress state of the event task. The task is in the Open state. Selecting Work In Progress moves the task to the Work in Progress state. You can update the actual start time of the task in the Actual start field in this state. If you do not update the actual start time, the current date and time are recorded as the actual start time. The next available options are Closed Complete or Closed Incomplete state. |
| Closed Incomplete | Closed Incomplete state of the event task. Actual end time of the task is recorded in the Actual end field. If you do not update the actual end time, the current date and time are recorded as the actual end time. Update necessary information in the Work notes field and save the task. |
| Closed Complete | Closed Complete state of the event task. The task is closed and complete in this state. Actual end time of the task is recorded in the Actual end field. If you do not update the actual end time, the current date and time are recorded as the actual end time. |
[Table 2. State transitions of an event task]

{#states-for-exercise-events__table_zz5_w5p_cyb}