How to use line item dates
HubSpot line items can have multiple date properties, but comes with some defaults. Each line item property behaves just like any other property in HubSpot, such as a Deal or Contact property, and you can use them in workflows and in reporting.
The most common use cases are:
- Billing Start Date (built in) - used to show customers when payments are made, can be picked up by invoicing tools such as Invoice Stack
- Contract Start Date - manage when contracts start and finish in cases where that's different to when an item is actually billed
- Renewal Date - spot when items are up for renewal or when contracts end
- Event Date, Service Date or Appointment Date - to track when a billable activity takes place
You can add line item properties just like you would for a deal or contact from the properties settings - but note line item properties are listed as "Product" in the editor. Find out more about the difference between products and line items on the HubSpot Knowledge Base.
To make these properties visible in your quote or line items editor - you can edit the columns that show in HubSpot.
Populate dates using LinePilot's built-in dynamic date tokens
LinePilot has dynamic date tokens built in to allow you to quickly populate a line item property, based on the date the template runs.
When you edit or override any property of type "date" - you'll see an option for "use dynamic date".
At present that has the options:
- Today - the date the template runs
- Start of the Month - the first day of the month the template runs
- End of the Month - the last day of the month the template runs
Need a different date? We're adding more options so would love to hear your feedback - alternatively - look at the options below.
Populate dates using deal properties
If you'd like to use a date from elsewhere (for example one that's stored on the Deal) - you can choose "use deal property" and specify a date property from your HubSpot deal.
This works really well if you've already calculated the date you need. For example, you may want to set the billing start date to be the same as the deal close date. You can even use HubSpot's calculated properties to build out logic based on this.
Calculate date properties in HubSpot
Let's say you wanted to create custom dates, e.g. set the billing start date to be 30 days before a course begins. You can use HubSpot workflows to calculate a deal property, and then use the instructions above to add this to your LinePilot template. You'll need to do this at the deal level, as workflows do not run on line items themselves.
Option 1: Format Data
If you have Ops Hub Pro - HubSpot has a format data option - you can use this to create a custom calculation using "Add an amount of time" or "Subtract an amount of time". Simply add the new value to a deal property (we recommend using the "date" format rather than "datetime") - then add to your template.
Option 2: Use Workflow Date Calculator
If you don't have Ops Hub Pro - there's a Free app called Workflow Date Calculator on the App Marketplace - which you can use to add or remove time values.
Adding month names to your description
It's really common for the line item to need the month name on it based on the date it's being added. For this you can use the token {{date.monthName}} in your line item descriptions. This will fill out the full name of the month, relative to the date the template is run. For example, if running on Jan 3rd, it will read "January". We're hoping to expand on this feature in the future.
Need Assistance?
Our team are happy to help if you need help working out how best to use dates in LinePilot - just reach out to us at support@linepilot.co