ScaleXP uses natural language processing (NLP) to identify dates from invoice and bill line descriptions. Common date-related terms such as "annual" or "quarter" or durations like "8 months" or "6 months" are also recognised.

If no dates are found in the line item description, the system defaults to the current month (issue date month) for that line item.

To ensure accuracy, it's important to use clear date formats across invoices and to have the correct date format setting (British or American). 

See How to change the date format in ScaleXP 

BEST PRACTICES

• Use words like annual, quarterly, yearly and other words which convey a contractual term
• Use month names or abbreviations: instead of using numbers, write out months or use their abbreviations (e.g. "March" or "Mar" instead of "03")
• Use four-digit years: Write out the full year, such as "2024" instead of "24"
• Include spaces between start and end dates: 
  • avoid formats like "03May2020-02May2021."; instead use "03 May 2020 to 02 May 2021." (British format)
  • avoid formats like "May032022-May022021"; instead use "May 03 2022 to May 02 2022". (American format)
• Simplify line items descriptions and avoid including additional data points where possible
• Use curly brackets {}: Curly brackets convey to the system that this data is most important. Examples: 
  • {03-May-2020 to 02-May-2021} (British format);
  • {June-22-2023 to December-21-2023] (American format)

Good Examples:

• 01-January-2024 to 31-December-2024 (British format)
• January-01-2022 to December-31-2024 (American format)
• Annual subscription
• 3-month project
• 3-year subscription starting 10-May-2024 (British format)
• Annual subscription from 15-Jan-2025 (British format)
• Product A Subscription 01 Apr 2024 to 31 Mar 2025 (British format)

FORMATS TO AVOID

• Don’t use date formats that mix numbers and text without proper spacing.
• Avoid abbreviating years 
• Avoid overly complex descriptions with multiple data points

Bad Examples:

• 3-year contract for Product A.  Invoice 1 of 3: This can confuse the system as it is unclear if it is a 3-year invoice or the first annual invoice.
• Annual subscription, PO 4-01-00:  This may lead to confusion as the system is looking for dates, so 4-01 may be interpreted as a date.  Here you could add curly brackets to avoid confusion.  “Annual subscription, PO 4-01-00. {15-March-2024 to 14-March-2025}”

See How does ScaleXP allocate the spread of revenue?