Business Central Date Time Shortcuts: 5-Minute Efficiency Hacks

 Intro:

Manually typing dates/times in Business Central forms wastes 15+ minutes daily for finance and operations teams. Fix this in under 5 minutes with keyboard shortcuts.

 Use Case:

Companies improved order accuracy and saved data entry time by training users on Business Central date and time tips while reducing errors.

  Date Fields:

• • Type t → Inserts today’s date.
  • Type w → Inserts work date (set via top-right profile menu).
  • Type 15 → Inserts 15th of the current month (e.g., 15/06/2025).
  • Warning: Avoid MM/DD formats if regional settings use DD/MM (e.g., 06/07 = June 7th in US, July 6th in EU).

 Time Fields:

• • • Type n → Inserts current time.
    • Type 1130 → Inserts 11:30 AM (no colon needed).
    • Warning: Use 24-hour format for consistency (e.g., 1400 = 2:00 PM).*

 Expanded: Full List of Date and Time Shortcuts in Business Central

Here’s the complete cheat sheet of supported shortcuts when entering dates and times across Business Central forms like Sales Orders, Purchase Invoices, Journals, and more. 

 Note: These work in any editable date or time field — even in lookups like filters or “From Date”/“To Date”.

 Date Shortcuts

Time Shortcuts

💡 Tip: If you only enter a number, Business Central interprets it based on the number of digits (e.g., 815 = 08:15).

Combination Shortcuts

You can combine shortcuts with operators:

 Use Case Examples:

• • Accountants: In General Journals, press
    • w to auto-fill Posting Date with your work date.
    • t for today
    • -1d for yesterday
    • +7d for next week
  • Sales Teams: In Sales Orders, type
    • t+7 to set Delivery Date = today + 7 days.
  • Warehouse Users: On Warehouse Receipt > Expected Receipt Date:  Type
    • Mon to auto-fill next Monday
    • Use c-1m for 1 month ago (from current date)
  • For Sales Reps: In Sales Order > Shipment Date, Enter
    • w for work date (as set in My Settings)
    • c+1w gives the same day next week

 Pro Tips:

• • Calculate deadlines: In service job planning, type d30 in a date field = today + 30 days.
  • Use ‘w’ to apply your configured Work Date, even if different from system date.
  • Typing ‘31-12’ auto-completes to current year-end.
  • Use c for current date and combine it: c-1y = 1 year ago.
  • If your regional format is different (e.g., DD/MM/YYYY vs MM/DD/YYYY), the interpretation of inputs like 12-06 may change. Stick to shortcuts when in doubt to avoid misinterpretation.

 Further Reading:

• •  Microsoft Docs: BC Date Formulas
  • Understanding General Journal Dates in Business Central
  • How to Set Work Date in Business Central
  • If you’re planning for implementation, support or upgrades in Microsoft Dynamics 365 business central or NAV, check out our Business Central consulting services for tailored implementation and support.

💡What you have learned in this post:

• • Enter today’s date in Business Central with one keystroke
  • Change work date in BC dynamically
  • Use Business Central time shortcuts for faster entries
  • Avoid date format errors in international setups.
  • How to enter today’s date in Business Central fast.
  • What does ‘w’ mean in Business Central date field.
  • Date format shortcut for current month in D365 BC.
  • How to set future date using shortcuts in Business Central.