Dates & period rules
How dates work in bluprnts — every date pinned to month end, the forecast window, calendar vs financial year, and which figures are flows and which are balances.
The rules that govern time in the model. Most date surprises come from one of these.
Every date is a month end#
Dates on products, sales, employees, costs, financing and hiring waves are pinned to the end of their month when stored. The forecast grid has one column per month, so a date mid-month would have nowhere to land.
The practical consequence: a cost starting on the 3rd and one starting on the 28th behave identically. If you need something to land in the following month, set it to that month.
The forecast window#
Your model has a start date and a number of forecast years, and every column in every statement is derived from them. Change either and the whole forecast rebuilds.
See Forecast window.
Calendar year vs financial year#
Two different things, and both are used:
- Financial year — set by the month your financial year closes. Drives corporation tax, loss relief and the year chapters on the Waterfall.
- Calendar periods — the statement grid's quarterly and yearly columns group into calendar quarters and years.
See Company profile.
Flows and balances aggregate differently#
| Kind | Quarterly / yearly columns show |
|---|---|
| Flows — revenue, costs, cash movements | The sum of the months |
| Balances — everything on the balance sheet, the bank balance | The closing month of the period |
Summing a balance would be meaningless — three months of a bank balance added together isn't a quarter's cash position.
Dates that shift cash rather than profit#
Several settings move when money lands without changing what was earned:
| Setting | Shifts |
|---|---|
| Debtor days | When customers pay you |
| Creditor days | When you pay suppliers |
| VAT payment frequency and first payment month | When VAT is remitted |
| Duty payment frequency and month | When duty is remitted |
| Corporation tax payment months | How long after the year end tax is paid |
| Bonus month | When bonuses are paid |
See Payment terms.
Things that start before your forecast#
Your opening position is how the past enters the model — opening cash, invoices already raised, bills already received, losses brought forward. Items dated before the forecast start don't contribute to it.
Related#
- Forecast window — start date and length.
- Payment terms — the cash timing rules.
- How forecasts are built — periods as the spine of the model.