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In Phocas, Period Types

Periods are a core concept in Phocas. Read the Phocas basics > Periods page to learn more about the Period menu in Phocas and the different types of periods.

Period types define the core increments of time that allow users to

analyse

analyze their data

.  It is fundamental to the use of the software, and it forms

, forming the basis of

Defined Periods.   Only administrators with the 'period types' profile option ticked can set Period types.

There are three default period types:

  • Months
  • Days
  • Years
Phocas gives users the ability to add other period types that are significant to their own businesses

defined periods. 

The default period types are Year, Month and Day and you cannot edit or delete these. You can, however, edit and delete other period types, known as custom period types, such as Quarters or Weeks.

 This can be done in two ways:
  1. Direct entry into Phocas
  2. Import a file that contains the start and end dates for each period

Example 1:  Direct entry

Step 1:  Select Administration > Period types.

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Step 2:  Choose New, name the new period type (in this example Quarter) and Save. 

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This new period type will appear in the list. 

Step 3:    Now you'll need to define each moment of your new period type.  To do this, select the period type you just created and choose Add.   In the dialog that opens, enter a name, and the required date range and Save. In this example, we've repeated this step 4 times for each of our 4 quarters, as shown below.

Quarter 1Quarter 2Quarter 3Quarter 4
Image RemovedImage RemovedImage RemovedImage Removed
Step 4:  Once complete, you can review all your moments in a list, as shown.Image Removed
Note that you can not

You can also add more custom period types as required. This difference in period types is explained in the following image:

  • On the left, you can see the Periods Types administration page with the list of the custom period types you can manage. You can add more period types to this list.

  • On the right, you can see the corresponding list of period types in the database setup (Date section in Designer), along with the three default period types (in the green box). It is here in the database setup that you determine the period types that are available in the database.

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After you select the period type(s) for a database, you can use them as a foundation for defined periods in that database. These are the periods that display in the Period menu in the Analytics and Financial Statements modules.

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In the Budgets & Forecasts module, the selected period types for a database become available for selection in the setup of budgets and forecasts.

image-20241004-021144.pngImage Added

To manage the period types for your Phocas site, you need the following Administration permissions: Period Types, Databases and Sync.

Add a period type

The process of adding a new period type has two key steps. First, you add the period type, then you define each moment in that period, in other words, add the collection of date ranges that make up the period. You can define the moments in three ways; (A) manually enter the moments, (B) import a file containing the moments or (C) base the period type on synced data.

  1. Click Administration >Period types.

  2. On the Period Types page, click New.

  3. In the Period Types window, enter a name for the new period type, for example, Quarter.

    Image Added

  4. If you want to base the moments on synced data, select the Is Sync Period Type checkbox. Additional options display. Skip to the expandable section (C) below.

  5. Click Save. The new period type displays in the list on the Period Types screen.

    Image Added

  6. Define each moment in the period type using one of the methods outlined below (expand the applicable section).

Expand
title(A) Manually add moments

  1. On the Period Types screen, click the new period type to open its Moments screen.

    Image Added

  2. On the Moments screen, click Add.

  3. Enter a name for the moment (such as Quarter 1) and the date range, then click Save.

    Image Added

    Note that you cannot enter dates that overlap with an existing period type. If you try to do this, you will

see

  1. get a warning

, allowing you NOTE!

  1. message and have to adjust your dates. 

    Image Modified

Step 5:  This period type will now be available in the date dropdown Image Removed when designing / editing databases in the Designer tool.  (Helen Gosper insert link here??)  

You'll need to tick it and rebuild the database for the new period type to be available in Phocas.   

Example 2:  Import

Step 1:  Select Administration > Period types.

Step 2:  Choose New, name the new period type (in this example, Weeks) and Save.  This new period type will appear in the list.

Step 3:  Upload the file that contains details of your new period type.  To do this, select the period type you just created and then choose Import.  You can download the file used in this example here; it is similar to the screen shot below.  

Image Removed

 

Step 4:  Set the date format to match that of the imported file (for the screen shot above we'll need to choose dd/mm/yyyy) and Upload.

  1. Repeat the above two steps to define the other moments (such as Quarter 2, Quarter 3 and Quarter 4) in the period type.

  2. Review all the moments in the period type, then click Close.

  3. Proceed to add the new period type to the database.

Expand
title(B) Import moments

  1. Prepare a file that contains the moments in the new period type.

    • The file must be a .txt file with the columns Name, Start Date, End Date and Year in that order with no headings, as per the image below. 

    • The Name must be unique.

 Although

    • Although, in reality, there might be a Week 1 every year, you

'll

    • need to name your moments individually.

 

    • For example, Wk1-2016, Wk1-2017,

etc

    • and so on.

    • Data in the Year column must be 4 numbers only. If your moment spans a change in year,

choose

    • it is recommended you use the year that matches the Start Date.

    • You can download and edit the file used in this example here.

      Image Modified
 

Step 5:  This period type will now be available in the date dropdown Image Removed when designing / editing databases in the Designer tool.  (Helen Gosper insert link here??)  

You'll need to tick it and rebuild the database for the new period type to be available in Phocas.   

Image Removed

 

  2. On the Period Types screen, select the new period type and click Import.

  3. Upload the file.

  4. Set the date format to match that of the imported file (in this example it is dd/mm/yyyy) and click Upload.

    Image Added

  5. Review all the moments in the period type, then click Close.

  6. Proceed to add the new period type to the database.

Expand
title(C) Add a sync period type

If you have synced data, you can add a period type based on that data.

Notes about the sync period type:

  • When the sync source is updated, the period type is also updated. The moments are purged and then the sync rows are loaded.

  • The moments within a period type linked to a sync item can only be edited by re-syncing the item.

  • You can import moments from such a sync item against any Period Type that is NOT linked to a sync item. The import overwrites any existing moments against the period type.

Prerequisite: Ensure the synced data item contains the moments in the new period type, organized into four columns in this order:

  • Name (text)

  • Start (date time)

  • End (date time)

  • Year (integer)

Continuing from step 3 above, wherein the Period Types window you select the Is Sync Period checkbox and additional options display:

  1. Select the source from the Sync Source dropdown list.

  2. Select the data item from the Sync Item dropdown list.

  3. Click Save. The moments are added automatically for you.

    Image AddedImage Added

  4. Click the new period type to review all the moments, then click Close.

  5. Proceed to add the new period type to the database.

Add a period type to a database

After you add a period type using the steps above, you need to add that period type to the applicable database(s) in Designer, then save and rebuild the database.    

Edit or delete the moments in a period type

  1. On the Period Types page, click the period type to open its Moments screen.

  2. Take the applicable action:

    • Edit the moment details: Click the moment (blue link), make your changes, and click Save.

    • Delete a moment: Select the moment row and click Delete > Yes.

  3. Click Close.

Delete a period type or moment

On the Period Types page:

  • To delete a period type, select the period type row and click Delete > Yes.

  • To delete a moment, click the period type to open its Moments screen, then select the moment row and click Delete > Yes.

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