What This Update Actually Is
HubSpot shipped two connected changes to the journey and funnel report builder on June 16, 2026. First, you can now define report stages using CRM object lifecycle date properties instead of requiring a stage-change event. Second, a new dropdown above the report lets you choose one of three stage ordering modes.
Those three modes are: stages in order, stages in any order, and count stages separately. Each one counts records differently and tells a different story about your funnel.
One important caveat: this initial release is limited to creation properties and stage change properties only. Not every object property is available yet. HubSpot has flagged this clearly in the release notes, and you'll see only eligible properties appear when you build your first stage.
Why HubSpot Shipped This
The old funnel report assumed a tidy, sequential world. Contact enters stage one, moves to stage two, advances to stage three. Clean drop-off counts at every step.
Real pipelines don't work that way. Deals jump from prospect to proposal without touching a discovery stage. Contacts get imported from a legacy CRM with a lifecycle stage already set but no corresponding event in HubSpot's history. Some prospects circle back after going dark for six months. Every one of those records showed up as uncounted or broken in a traditional funnel report.
The internal frustration is real. Marketing ops leaders have told us they've been running workarounds for years: custom properties, calculated fields, manual exports. The new property-based stage definition and flexible ordering removes most of that friction directly inside the report builder.
How to Use It Step by Step
- Go to Reports, click Create Report, and choose either Customer Journey or Funnel from the report type menu.
- When you set your first stage, look for the available lifecycle date properties that now surface automatically. Select the property that best represents the start of that stage for your business.
- Add your remaining stages the same way. If a stage is driven by a workflow-set property or an import, use the matching lifecycle date property rather than hunting for an event.
- Above the report, open the new stage ordering dropdown and pick the mode that fits your reporting goal. Use "Stages in order" for traditional drop-off analysis. Use "Stages in any order" when you want to see how many records touched all stages regardless of sequence. Use "Count stages separately" for a volume snapshot of each stage independent of the others.
- Save the report and add it to a dashboard. The ordering mode is saved with the report, so anyone who views it sees the same logic you configured.
What It Touches in Your HubSpot Strategy
This update ripples into more of your portal than it might look like at first glance. Here's where the impact lands.
Lifecycle stage properties: Any lifecycle date property you're already setting via workflow automation or import becomes a valid stage definition. That means your existing data hygiene work now pays dividends directly in reporting.
Deal pipeline reporting: Sales teams running deal-stage funnels can now account for deals that skipped early stages because they came in through a referral or a renewal path. The "Stages in any order" mode is especially useful here.
Contact journey analysis: Marketing teams mapping the full contact lifecycle from subscriber to customer can now include contacts who were imported at the MQL or SQL stage without a recorded first-touch event in HubSpot.
Key Takeaway
If you've imported contacts or deals from another CRM without full event history, property-based stage definitions let you include those records in funnel reports for the first time. Your historical data is no longer invisible.
Dashboard strategy: The three ordering modes produce three different numbers for the same set of stages. That's a feature, not a bug. You can build three versions of the same funnel and place them side by side on a dashboard to give leadership a complete picture. Pair this with HubSpot's updated Add to Dashboard panel for smarter report discovery and organization.
RevOps alignment: This update is a direct argument for tighter alignment between how your team sets lifecycle stages in workflows and how those stages get reported on. If properties are being set inconsistently across automation, imports, and manual updates, your funnel numbers will reflect that inconsistency. The report builder is now accurate enough to surface the gaps.
Key Takeaway
The "Count stages separately" mode is powerful for volume benchmarking. Use it to see total records that reached each stage during a period, even if they never moved through the other stages at all.
If you're thinking about the bigger picture of how your B2B buyers actually move through your pipeline, our article on why most B2B customer journey maps fail is worth a read alongside this update.
Who Should Care Most
This update matters most to the humans responsible for measuring pipeline health and marketing performance. Here's who should act on it first.
- RevOps managers who own funnel reporting and have been frustrated by skipped-stage gaps in deal or contact counts.
- Marketing ops leaders who set lifecycle stages via workflow automation or property imports and need those values to show up in reports.
- Sales leaders at companies that migrated from another CRM and brought over contacts or deals without full HubSpot event history.
- Business owners and VP-level humans who review pipeline conversion dashboards and have been getting counts that didn't match what the team reported manually.
Tier requirements: Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise, Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise. If you're on Starter or Free, this feature isn't available yet.
George's Take
I've sat inside hundreds of HubSpot portals and watched the same scene play out: a marketing or sales leader pulls up their funnel report, sees a number that doesn't match reality, and either stops trusting the report or builds a messy workaround in a spreadsheet. The root cause is almost always the same. Their pipeline doesn't follow a perfect sequence, but their report was built like it does. This update directly addresses that gap. It's not glamorous, but it's exactly the kind of foundational reporting improvement that makes the data trustworthy enough to actually act on. If your team has been avoiding funnel reports because the numbers feel off, this is the moment to rebuild them the right way.
“Trustworthy data isn't about perfect pipelines. It's about reports that reflect the messy reality of how your buyers actually move. This update finally closes that gap.”
Want to rebuild your funnel and journey reports so they reflect how your pipeline actually works? Our team has audited and restructured reporting setups across dozens of portals. Let's look at yours together. Book a strategy call with Sidekick Strategies and we'll show you exactly where your current funnel reports are leaving data on the floor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is property-based stage definition in HubSpot funnel reports?
Property-based stage definition lets you define a funnel stage using the value of a CRM lifecycle date property instead of requiring a recorded stage-change event. This is useful for contacts or deals set via workflow automation or imported from another CRM without full event history. This initial release supports creation and stage change properties only.
What are the three stage ordering options in HubSpot journey reports?
The three options are: Stages in order (counts records that passed through stages in the exact sequence), Stages in any order (counts records that hit all stages regardless of sequence), and Count stages separately (counts records that reached each stage independent of whether they hit any other stage). Each mode tells a different story about your funnel.
Does this HubSpot update work for imported contacts or deals?
Yes. If a contact or deal was imported with a lifecycle stage property already set but no HubSpot event to back it up, property-based stage definitions will now count that record in your funnel. This is one of the primary use cases HubSpot designed this feature to solve.
Which HubSpot tiers include flexible stage ordering for funnel reports?
Flexible stage ordering and property-based stage definitions are available on Marketing Hub Professional, Marketing Hub Enterprise, Sales Hub Professional, and Sales Hub Enterprise. The feature is not available on Free or Starter tiers as of the June 16, 2026 release.
How does 'Count stages separately' differ from 'Stages in any order'?
Stages in any order counts records that hit every defined stage, no matter the sequence. Count stages separately counts records that hit each individual stage with no requirement that they touched any other stage. Use Count stages separately when you want total volume per stage as standalone metrics, not as part of a connected journey.
Can I use this update to fix funnel reports that show low counts after a CRM migration?
Yes. Low funnel counts after a CRM migration are often caused by missing event history for imported records. Switching to property-based stage definitions means your report reads the lifecycle date property on each record directly, so migrated contacts and deals with the right properties set will appear in your funnel counts going forward.
