I've sussed out how the dates work (probably)

In the invoice designer when entering dynamic fields in the invoice table you have the Date fields available in...

Table -> timeslips
I have no idea what these date fields are for. they have the same names as listed below but when used in the invoice table nothing appears on the invoice

Data Row -> timeslips
OK, this is where the action is you have no less than five date fields (!). this is how, I think they relate to the slips. Four of the fields are basic and relate to the entries in the slips - so "slip due date" is the date you enter in "slip due". easy.

Now it gets more interesting with the simply named field "slip date". Note that when you are editing your dynamic text "slip date" is called "smartDate" in the Path box (I hope you are following this!!!) and this is a clue that the "slip date" field can be different things. here is what I have found out...

When doing Flat or Timed item slips "slip date" = the date you pressed the invoice button for the slip
When doing quantity, mileage or expense slips, "slip date" is the date you entered in that slip date box. The "slip complete date" field also takes on the same date.



Ok another way of looking at this is...
for quantity, mileage and expense items, the field "slip date" is the same as the field "slip complete date" - it contains the date you enter when defining the New Working Slip.

For flat and timed items, the field "slip date" is the same as the field "slip invoiced date" - its the date that is auto entered when you press the Send Invoice button.

Also note that the field "invoiced slip date" will NOT put a date on your invoice if the slip is a Timed slip. Flat slips WILL display the date in the field "slip invoiced date"
(can this get more messed up???)


If you want to label an item on your invoice with a date that is totally under your control then you must use "slip completed date". This is the date you enter in the date box for mileage, expense and quantity types and the date for "completed" date box on flat and timed items (click log to change)


If you use the field "slip date" in your invoices you will find the date will be connected to different things depending on the slip type.

Now perhaps I'm going daft here, I am no accountant and perhaps I just don't get this software or how folk bill, but all this seems a bit messed up to me. I have read numerous posts on the subject of dates in Billings and there is significant confusion with dates and hardly any help from the developers. If this is a bug then its a pretty lame one considering this software is at 2.5+!!

I would love a comment from the developers to confirm my findings one way or the other.

Sorry for the ramble but its complicated isn't it?! I thought I'd document my hours of work on this just in case it helps others

Wow, thanks for digging up that info. I agree it's messed up, and it's a longstanding issue that has been promised to be fixed for quite a while now. Search the forums for "backdating"...

quote:

For flat and timed items, the field "slip date" is the same as the field "slip invoiced date" - its the date that is auto entered when you press the Send Invoice button.

Are you sure about this part? It seems to me that it's the date the slip was entered (which we can't control...)

You could well be right. I would have been creating slips and invoices in the same day during my testing so in my case those dates would have been the same anyway.

Of course the main point is that the field "slip date" for Quantity, Mileage and Expenses means different things for Timed and Flat.

At the end of it all I just want to be able to state on the invoice when a particular event took place - be it a timed job, an expense, a quantity etc.

If its a timed job over a few days then the invoice should say "some date" to "some date" or if its just a provision of a quantity of goods then it should be the date they were delivered or prepared etc.

Just a darn box to type dates into on all the slip type would work better!

This is pretty messed up. Has anyone seen clear answers regarding this issue from MarketCircle?
Am I the only one who thinks that a date typed in on a slip should show as such on an invoice? I'm looking at the description Drumhum wrote above and I'll try to make changes on my invoice to see if the correct dates show, but this is unnecessarily complex. Any additional help would be greatly appreciated from anyone.

Part 2:

quote:

If you want to label an item on your invoice with a date that is totally under your control then you must use "slip completed date". This is the date you enter in the date box for mileage, expense and quantity types and the date for "completed" date box on flat and timed items (click log to change)

I think this summarizes the way we should work right?

Edit 3:

Ran into an issue using the "slip completed date" token. It doesn't show up on the main window view. Now I don't know which slip to open if I need to edit it. It would be good to be able to hide and change which columns are shown.
Will keep trying...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mau,

quote:

Ran into an issue using the "slip completed date" token. It doesn't show up on the main window view. Now I don't know which slip to open if I need to edit it. It would be good to be able to hide and change which columns are shown.
Will keep trying...

I think you'll be trying for quite a while!

I've managed to work out a way to get dates on my invoice that make sense and to use them in my reports. I can't say the dates in the "main window" make sense though! I've just learned to ignore that column altogether.

Going by the developers silence on this I think we'll have to wait for v3 to sort us out. I suspect v3 will work completely differently. It'll probably have different bugs to deal with too (or am I just the ever pessimist)!