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Previous (Date Period)

Smart Help Video: Previous Date Period

In this short video, you'll learn how trailing date periods work and how to create a previous date period.

This date period setting allows you to set up a trailing or rolling date period that covers a defined amount of time. To create this date period, you specify the number and type of previous periods you want to use. These are the period types available:

Day(s)
Month(s)
Quarter(s)
Year(s)

The Previous date period automatically updates, so this option is an efficient way to create dynamically updating periods.

When to Use

Use this date period when you want to show a trailing or rolling period, such as the last 365 days or the last 6 months.

For example, today is 8/1/2007 and you want to see a date range from 365 days ago to current time, you would use this date period, set to 365 days, to see from 8/1/2006 to 8/1/2007.

Previous quarter, month, and year dates begin on the prior quarter, month, or year end. For example, if today is October 18, 2007 and you use Previous 2 Quarters, the date period begins on 9/30/2007 and ends 3/31/2007.

The following are some common Previous date periods:

Date Period	What You Get	Automatic Update Rate
365 Days	Previous 365 days to date Note that using a 365-day period may cause data inconsistencies during leap years.	Updates after every market close
12 Months	Previous 12 months from prior month end	Updates after each completed month
4 Quarters	Previous four quarters from prior quarter end	Updates after each completed quarter
1 Year	Previous 1 year from prior year end	Updates after each completed year

Understand Previous Date Periods

To understand how this date period works, think:

Start date = End of previous amount of time^† (days, months, etc.) – X period of time (days, months, etc.)

End date = End of previous amount of time^† (days, months, etc.)

† Use As Of date for this calculation

For example, if the As Of date is 9/15/2016 and we want Previous 2 years:

Determine the end of the previous year, in this case, 12/31/2015. This is your end date.
Calculate your start date: End of the previous year (12/31/2015) – 2 years = 12/31/13.
The actual dates for this date period are 12/31/2013 to 12/31/2015.

Always Use Previous Period

Use the Always use previous period setting with a Previous date period to adjust how the date period behaves when used at the end of a date period range.

Consider this scenario: you create a Previous 1 Year(s) date period, and today is 12/31/2019.

This is how Always use previous period will adjust that date period:

Option status		Resulting Date Period
Selected		2018
Cleared		2019

For more information on setting up and using dates and date periods, see Dates and Date Periods.

For information about the From: As Of Date or Today setting that works with Previous date periods in bulk reports, see From: As of Date or Today.