To reach the "Dates" Set-up page, select FILE and BASIC PROGRAM SET UP from the Menu Bar.  Click on the "Dates" tab on top of the page.  The Dates Set-up page will appear:

Parts of this screen include:

Check if you would like to use a 4-digit year format on printed purchase orders

For data entry, AnyPO uses a two digit year format, i.e. 04/05/15.  This helps speed up data entry and saves space on screen display. However, you may wish to use a four digit year format (i.e. 04/05/2015) on the printed purchase orders that you send to your vendors.  To use a four-digit format, place a checkmark in the box.  To use a two-digit format, leave the box unchecked.

Select one of the following date formats

Select the date format that most closely matches that expected by your vendors.  For instance, North American businesses will choose the default format where the Month is listed first: 06/30/14 (Month/Day/Year).  British businesses will select the other format where Day is listed first:  30/06/14 (Day/Month/Year).

Indicate desired date separator

Select the separation character for dates.  The separation character separates the month, day and year digits.  If you select a slash ( / ), dates will appear like:  04/05/15 or 04/05/2015.  If you select a dot ( . ), dates will appear like: 04.05.15 or 04.05.2015.  If you select a dash ( - ), dates will appear like:  04-05-15 or 04-05-2015."

What is your fiscal year?

Indicate whether you use the calendar year (from January 1 to December 31) as your fiscal or some other fiscal year"

The (calendar year from January 1st to December 31) will be the choice of the great majority of small businesses using this program.  A regular calendar year is easy to understand and easier from an accounting and tax perspective.  To indicate calendar year (from January 1 to December 31) as your fiscal year, make sure the appropriate button is selected.

Note that if you have a fiscal year other than the calendar year, whenever the program refers to a particular year, for instance "2015," it means Fiscal Year 2015, or FY 2015.  Whenever non-calendar fiscal years are used by businesses, the range covered extends from one year to another.  Using the standard naming convention, AnyPO always refers to the fiscal year by the second of the two years covered. If your fiscal year is from 07/01 to 06/30, then FY 2015 extends from 07/01/14 to 06/30/15.  To help simplify messages, the program often drops the FY prefix.  If you have a non-calendar fiscal year and you come across a year in program messages, you can assume a "FY" prefix, unless indicated otherwise.

If your fiscal year is not the calendar year, what is your start and ending dates?

If you don't use the calendar year for bookkeeping and taxes, then indicate the starting month and day.  For instance, some businesses use July 1st to June 30th as their fiscal year.  In that case they would enter a "7" (for July) in the "Starting Month" blank and a "1" (for the lst of July) in the "Starting Day" blank.  The starting day must be the 1st of the starting month.