Dates & Timezones

9 min

Timezones

Timestamp columns are not standardized across tables. Some are stored in UTC, some in Bucharest time, some on the clinic's own clock, and some are plain dates with no time at all. Check this page before you filter or group by a date column.

Codes

Code	Meaning
UTC	Coordinated Universal Time
BUC	Bucharest wall-clock time (Europe/Bucharest). Earlier versions of this page called it "EEDT". It is UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer, so always convert from 'Europe/Bucharest', never a fixed offset.
LOCAL	The clinic's wall-clock time, in the clinic's IANA timezone from clinics_view.timezone
DAY	Date only, the clinic's calendar day. No time component.
LEGACY	Nothing in the current platform writes this column. Don't report on it.

Rules of thumb

Audit columns (created_at, updated_at, deleted_at) are BUC, with one exception: notification_periods writes them as UTC.

Most newer *_at columns that aren't audit columns are UTC.

If a column isn't listed on this page, don't assume BUC. Contact us before building a report on it.

appointment and custom_events store two copies of each time, a local one and a _utc one. They are stored separately and can drift apart after a daylight saving change, a clinic timezone change, or a bulk edit of a recurring series. For reporting, use the _utc columns and convert with clinics_view.timezone.

Financial

Column	Use	TZ
sale.created_at / updated_at / deleted_at	Record audit	BUC
sale.taxable_at	Tax point. Takes issued_at, else closed_at, else checkout_at, else the first item, else created_at	UTC
sale.closed_at	When the sale closed	UTC
sale.first_line_item_added_at	When the first item was added	UTC
sale.checkout_at	When the sale moved to ready for checkout. Only a 2023 backfill writes it, so it is stale or NULL on recent sales	UTC
sale.hidden_at	Hidden from the client. Mixed: sales created by pet parents write it in BUC	UTC / BUC
sale.payment_date	When the status became paid. This is the only LOCAL datetime on sale	LOCAL
charges.made_at	When the payment was actually made. Use this one	UTC
charges.date	LEGACY, replaced by made_at in 2023. Old rows are mixed: online and terminal payments in BUC, the rest LOCAL. Newer rows get the database default CURRENT_TIMESTAMP. Deprecated	Mixed
charges.payout_date / payout_arrival_date	Stripe payout created / arrived	UTC
charges.created_at / updated_at / deleted_at	Audit	BUC
payments.made_at	When the allocation was made (copied from the charge)	UTC
payments.date	LEGACY, same story as charges.date. Deprecated	Mixed
payments.created_at / updated_at / deleted_at	Audit	BUC
new_invoice.date	Invoice date printed on the invoice	DAY
new_invoice.issued_at	Exact issue time	UTC
predefined_discounts.disabled_at	When the discount was disabled	UTC
treatments.date	LEGACY	n/a
treatments / sold_service_packages created_at / updated_at / deleted_at	Line item audit	BUC
sold_service_package_products.expiration_date	Expiry of the batch used	DAY

Stock & Services

Column	Use	TZ
reception_notes.date / doc_date / due_date	Received date, supplier invoice date, payment due date. These changed from date-only to datetime in July to August 2025. Older rows are bare midnight values. Newer rows are clinic noon stored as UTC. Use DATE(col)	UTC (older rows: date at midnight)
reception_notes.payment_date	LEGACY	n/a
products.disabled_at	Product deactivated	UTC
products.sent_to_vetcove_at	Last push to Vetcove	UTC
products.stock_alert_sent_on	Low stock alert sent	UTC
products.inventory_start_date	LEGACY (2020 seed data)	n/a
product_reminders.due_date	Reminder due date	DAY

Clients & Patients

Column	Use	TZ
users.created_date	LEGACY. No longer written since 2020	n/a
users.birthdate	Pet parent's date of birth	DAY
users.terms_agreed_on	Terms acceptance. Mixed: LOCAL when staff save, BUC on self-registration. Staff overwrite it on every edit, so it is not a reliable "agreed on" date	Mixed
users.has_app	First app login	BUC
clients.last_visit_date	Latest visit or direct sale at the clinic	DAY
pet.birthday	Date of birth. 1980-01-01 is a placeholder meaning unknown	DAY
pet.created_date	LEGACY	n/a
patients.archived_at	Archived at this clinic	UTC
vetpetarchive.created_at	First time the pet was archived at the clinic (kept on re-archive)	BUC

Medical

Column	Use	TZ
new_file_cases.date	Record (visit) date	DAY
new_file_cases.opened_at / closed_at	Record opened / closed	BUC
new_file_cases.follow_up_date	LEGACY. Nothing writes it	n/a
prescriptions.prescribed_at / expires_at	Issued / expires. Rows from integrations may be midnight	UTC

Appointments & Operational

Column	Use	TZ
appointment.datetime / end_datetime	Start / end on the clinic clock. Recommended visits store the date only, with no end	LOCAL
appointment.datetime_start_utc / datetime_end_utc	Start / end. The app treats these as the source of truth	UTC
appointment.last_confirmed_at	Last confirmed	UTC
appointment.self_checked_in_at / self_check_in_scheduled_at	Self check-in done / check-in prompt due	UTC
appointment.last_instance_datetime	Last generated recurrence (parent rows)	UTC
appointment.done_at	When a recommended visit was marked done	DAY
appointment.notifications_sent_on	Historical only. The writer was removed in April 2026	BUC
appointment.time	LEGACY	n/a
appointment_requests.date / start_time	Requested slot	LOCAL
appointments_reschedules.date / start_time	New confirmed slot	LOCAL
custom_events.datetime_start / datetime_end	Calendar block or task on the clinic clock (rows before 2026-06-09 were corrected)	LOCAL
custom_events.datetime_start_utc / datetime_end_utc, last_instance_datetime	Same instants as above	UTC
notification_periods.send_at	Scheduled send time. Use this one	UTC
notification_periods.datetime	Deprecated since December 2025. It can drift from send_at	UTC
notification_periods.created_at / updated_at	Written as UTC, unlike other tables	UTC
reminder_protocol_usage.due_date / administration_date	Due / given date	DAY
reminder_protocol_usage.*_utc	UTC instant of clinic-local midnight. DATE() of these gives the previous day for clinics east of UTC	UTC

Converting to clinic local time

Use CONVERT_TIMEZONE with the clinic's zone from clinics_view.timezone. Pick the source zone to match the column's code above.

From a UTC column:

SELECT
    a.id,
    CONVERT_TIMEZONE('UTC', c.timezone, a.datetime_start_utc) AS start_local
FROM appointment a
JOIN clinics_view c ON c.id = a.clinic_id;

From a BUC column:

SELECT
    s.id,
    CONVERT_TIMEZONE('Europe/Bucharest', c.timezone, s.created_at) AS created_local
FROM sale s
JOIN clinics_view c ON c.id = s.clinic_id;

For a single clinic, you can pass the zone name directly, for example 'America/Toronto'.