The START function returns the first date of a time period. 

START(Time period)

ArgumentData typeDescription
Time periodTime period

The time period to find the first date of.

If left blank, returns the first date from the source module.

If a line item with the time period data type is used, returns the first date from that time period. A blank time period returns a blank result.

If a direct reference to a time period is used (Time.'Period'), returns the first date from that time period.

The START function returns a date result.

The format used to display the date depends on your OS/browser settings. For example, the U.S. date format displays the month before the day (mm/dd/yyyy).

The example below shows START(). No parameter is used and the module is time period formatted for months. 


Jan 14Feb 15

Period Start Date

START()

01/01/201401/02/2014

The example below shows START with a parameter. Start Month is formatted for months and Start Quarter is formatted for quarters.


Key DatesExpiry Dates
Month PeriodFeb 14Apr 16
Quarter PeriodQ2 FY14Q3 FY16

Start Month

START(Month Period)

01/02/201401/04/2016

Start Quarter

START(Quarter Period)

01/04/201401/07/2016

The final example below shows START with a hard-coded parameter. The current year is set to FY16 and the model Time Scale includes the past 2 years. 


Key DatesExpiry Dates
Month PeriodFeb 14Apr 15
Quarter PeriodQ2 FY14Q3 FY14

Start Date Absolute 

START(TIME.'FY14')

01/01/201401/01/2014