A key date is a date set to display in the summary of a job, such as a filing or payment deadline.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Adding key dates to a job


To add a key date to a job, first open the job template by going to Settings > Jobs, and open a job.


Click on the Dates tab.



The dates section includes:

1. A job date description

2. A job date format

3. Key dates

4. A date for reports in Senta



1. Job date description (optional)


The job date for any job is either set at the service level, or is set manually if you kick off an ad hoc job for a client. This field is a space where you can enter a description as a reminder for what the job date is, in the service. This date will display in the job summary when you kick off the job for a client.


2. Job date format (optional)


By setting a date format in this field, you can override the default format for the job date in any job list e.g. if you format the date to be MMM YYYY, it will be forced to display as "Apr 2019" rather than "10 April 2019".



3. Key dates




1. Description: a Key date description is how the date will appear in the Jobs summary


2. Field reference: setting a field reference is optional, but it allows you to use this date elsewhere in the job, such as to offset task start and due dates, or as a placeholder in an email tasks.


3. Offset: Key dates are set relative to the job date. In our example, the filing date has been offset to be 1 week after the job date. If you leave the offset field blank, the key date will be set to the same day as the job date.


4. Show as column: if you would like this Key date to show as a column in the jobs list, tick Yes.


5. Column name: if you have selected Yes to the Show as column you will be able to choose whether this date will display as a column on job lists, and you can set a title for this column name. You can use the same column name for key dates in different jobs, so that e.g. all job filing dates will display in the same column on a job list (see below).




6. Show as deadline: if you would like this Key date to show as a deadline in the Client portal, tick Yes.


7. Filters: you can also add filters for this key date, so that it only displays when certain parameters apply to a client.




Adding multiple key dates with the same name (and filtering them)


You may find that you want to store multiple key dates against a job, such as a VAT period start date, but that this date might be different for those on monthly VAT payments vs those on annual VAT payments.


If you want to ensure that every time a job kicks off for a client the job will only display the appropriate VAT period start date for that particular client's VAT frequency, you can add multiple key dates with the same name and field reference to your job, adding offsets as required.

Just add as many key dates as you need, with the required date offset for each one, then add the same field reference to each one, such as vatperiodstart.

You'll also need to add a filter to each date for the different VAT return frequencies:

For example, a key date based on a Quarterly VAT return frequency



And a key date based on an Annual VAT return frequency



If you then add a placeholder for the VAT Period start date to an email for a client - {job.vatperiodstart} - Senta would only ever pull the VAT period start date that is stored in that job for that client. So if the client is on monthly VAT, only the monthly VAT period start day will be pulled through into the email.


4. Date for reports in Senta


This dictates which month a job displays in, on Work > Jobs summary. For example, the job date might be in March, but the filing deadline is in April. You might want the job to count as a job for April rather than March, so you could set the date for reports to be the filing date, rather than the job date.



Previewing key dates when creating a job template


Once you have added key dates to a job template, you can preview how these key dates will display in the summary within a job, by clicking on the Preview tab. This will display the key dates if today were the job date.


Viewing key dates in existing jobs


To view the key dates in the job summary in any job that is currently running for a client, open any job.


At the top of the page under the "Summary" section you will see the job status, job date, any key dates, the job start date, and the job end date.