Date and time entry format rules

Autotask supports international date and time formats. The default formats for your internal location are set by your Autotask Administrator. You can select a different date and time format for your personal display on your Settings page. Your selection affects your display only; it does not impact how dates and times are stored in Autotask.

When you enter dates and times into a field in the interface, Autotask will compare the data to the date and time format specified for your display by your Autotask Administrator.

  • If the format matches, Autotask accepts and stores the data.
  • If the format does not match, Autotask attempts to interpret and re-format the data.

NOTE  If Autotask cannot determine an acceptable format from the data you enter, the data will not be accepted and you will need to re-enter the data in an acceptable format.

Autotask will interpret date and time entries as described in the tables that follow.

When you enter a date in Autotask, the date is compared to the format specified for its display by your Autotask Administrator.

When you enter a date, if Autotask finds that... Autotask will:
The date format matches the date format specified for Autotask Accept the date by validation and will store it.
The year format does not match because you entered two digits "yy" but the date format specified for Autotask is a four-digit year "yyyy" Convert the two digits into a four-digit year.
The year format does not match because you entered a four-digit year "yyyy" but the format specified for Autotask is a two-digit year "yy" Do nothing because it does NOT convert a four-digit year into a two-digit year.
The year is missing, but you entered a valid day and month combination with an appropriate separator

Use the current client machine year in the date calculation (this may be inaccurate in the few moments before or after the end of the year or if the user's computer date is configured incorrectly).

The day and month order will be in the order specified for Autotask, minus the year and year separator. For example:

  • If the format specified for Autotask is MM/dd/yyyy, Autotask allows only MM/dd.
  • If the specified format is dd/yy/mm, Autotask allows only dd/mm.
The day or month format does not match because you entered a single character day and/or month and the day and/or month format specified for Autotask uses multiple characters Pad the single-digit date with a leading zero. For example: If the Autotask date format is MM/dd/yyyy and you enter 1/25/2022, the date becomes 01/25/2022.
The separators in the date you entered do not match the separators in the format specified for Autotask, but they are included in the list of acceptable separators predefined for Autotask Convert your separators to an acceptable separator format specified for Autotask. For example: If the Autotask date format is MM/dd/yyyy and you enter 01.25.2022, the date becomes 01/25/2022.

Acceptable separators are /. and -. Autotask will not recognize separators that are not included in the predefined list.
The data is in Numeric Date Entry form, that is, natural numbers without separators

Count the number of digits.

If there are six digits, Autotask will accept the data and assume that the values are in the same order as the format specified for Autotask. The year will be in two-digit format "yy" and will follow the same logic for conversion of a two-digit year to a four-digit year, described earlier in this table. For example: If the format specified for Autotask is MM/yyyy/dd and you enter 019002, the date will become 01/1990/02 (January 2, 1990).

NOTE  Autotask will convert only numeric entries with 6 digits. If there are 4 or 8 digits, the entry is rejected.

When you enter time into Autotask, that time is compared to the format specified for its display by your Autotask Administrator.

When you enter time, if Autotask finds that... Autotask will:
The time format matches the time format specified for Autotask Accept the time by validation and will store it.
The data is in Numeric Time Entry form (natural numbers) Accept natural numbers as 24-hour time and convert it to the format specified for Autotask. For example, if you enter numbers with the following numeric formats, Autotask converts them as indicated:
0 => 12:00 AM
1 => 1:00 AM
10 => 10:00 AM
500 => 5:00 AM
0600 => 6:00 AM
1300 => 1:00 PM
6000 => Invalid time and is not converted. The field will remain empty or an invalid data message will display.
The data is in 24-hour (also called "military") time Convert the data to the format specified for Autotask. For example: if the format specified for Autotask is 12-hour time and you enter 13:00, the time will become 1:00 PM.
The time is entered in 12-hour format Accept the AM or PM in upper, lower, and mixed cases, and accept data with or without a space between the number and AM or PM. For example: If the format specified for Autotask is hh:mm: tt, the following data is valid:
12:00 PM
12:00 pM
12:00 Pm
12:00 pm
12:00PM
12:00pM
12:00Pm
12:00pm