When does your week start?

There is a minor(and rather hidden) setting in Dynamics that we can easily overlook, but, every now and then, it can be the sole reason for some interesting discrepancies in the reporting/search functionality.

Before we go there, here is what google had to say:

1. We normally think of the weekEND as of Saturday/Sunday(it’s the same in Canada/US):

2. For the majority of the world, the first day of the week falls on Monday (but it’s different for Canada/US/Japan):

Now, how did it happen that the week ENDs on Sunday and starts on Sunday in Canada/US is beyond me, and it could be just one of those funny little nuisances if not for the reports and advanced find in Dynamics

For example, if you defined a filter this way:

What would you actually see once you have clicked the “Results” button if it were Monday today? Would there be accounts modified “yesterday” (which would be Sunday)?

The answer depends on when the week starts. If it starts on Sunday, then you would not see the accounts modified “yesterday”.. although, you would see some other accounts – those modified the previous Sunday. Which might be somewhat different from what you really wanted to see.

This kind of weekly conditions (this week, next week, last week, etc) work the same way in the Advanced Find, in the fetch-based SSRS reports, in the saved and/or system views.

There are two ways to deal with this:

1. Be mindful of this functionality and use those weekly filters with caution

2. If this is still bothering you, re-configuring the First Day of Week in Dynamics  might help – you can do it from the Administration->System Settings->Formats->Customize->First Day of Week. Just keep in mind this will affect all users: