Begin Date

This is a required field when defining a new time period.  The date entered will determine (in conjunction with the type of time period) what day of the week or day of the month the time period will start (e.g. if you want your weekly time period to run from Sat-Fri, make sure the date you enter as the begin date falls on a Saturday).

This field is also used in calculating the "period number" (which is displayed on the preview version of the timesheet).  The period number could be, for example, 1 through 52 for weekly timesheets.  This number begins with 1 for the first time period that ends in a particular year.  If you are creating a new time period mid-year, but would like the period number to be accurate related to a standard calendar, you may choose to define the begin date to align with the beginning of the calendar year.

When creating a semi-monthly (aka  twice a month) time period, you will also need to specify when the second period is to begin.  For example, you may enter Begin Date 1: 1/1/04 and Begin Date 2: 1/16/04 (to define a period that have 2 timesheets per month. One ranging from the 1st to the 15th and the second beginning on the 16th and running through the end of the month).

IMPORTANT NOTE:  When first establishing a time period, make sure that you set the begin date to a date less than or equal to the earliest time you plan to store time data.  That is, if you're just starting to work with Unanet and it is mid-year, you may want to set your begin date to some time around the beginning of the current year to allow for the addition of historical data should you choose to do so.