Future Date Analysis

The Future Date Analysis scans date and time fields on a Dynamics 365 entity for values that fall after today. Results are grouped by time range, so you can see whether future dates sit close by or far ahead.

Use this analysis to surface data entry errors, broken integrations, or automation logic that could distort reporting, SLA calculations, or other date-driven processes.

This analysis marks future dates as an anomaly by default. If you have date fields where future dates are the norm, and you want to scan for dates that are incorrectly in the past, you can either invert the configured threshold for those fields, or use the Past Date Threshold or Date Range Analysis instead.
In a future version it will be possible to get notified at certain thresholds, opening up more use cases for this analysis type.

Configuration

Set thresholds for what counts as a good, warning, or critical percentage of future dates (% Future Dates). For most date fields, such as a birth date or contract signed date, you'll want as few future-dated records as possible. For example, a good rate might be 5% or less, warning between 5 and 20%, and critical 20% or higher.

For fields where a future date is expected and desirable, such as a renewal date or a scheduled follow-up, click the Reverse icon next to the threshold bar to flip the color logic, so a higher future date rate is treated as good.

Detailed Job Results

The Future Dates per Field bar chart shows the percentage of records with a future date, per field.
The Future Dates Distribution (per field) doughnut chart breaks this down further by time range: 0-1 Year, 1-5 Years, 5-10 Years, and >10 Years, so you can see whether future dates sit close by or far out.

The results table below lists per field the number of Records with Value, the number of Records with Future Date, and the percentage of fields with a future date (% Future Dates) labeled green (Good), amber (Warning), or red (Critical) according to the threshold settings.

Key Insights

• Data plausibility by field: identify which date fields hold values that logically shouldn't be in the future, such as a birth date or contract signed date.
• Data entry and integration errors: a high future date rate on a field can point to typos, misclicks, or integrations systematically writing incorrect dates.
• Time range spread: the distribution by time range shows whether future dates are just slightly ahead (likely a small entry error) or many years out (more likely a systemic or default-value issue).
• Sparse fields skew the picture: fields with very few populated records can produce a misleadingly high or low % Future Dates; check Records with Value alongside the rate before drawing conclusions.
• Impact on reporting and automation: records with implausible future dates can distort SLA calculations, forecasting, or other automation logic built on those fields.

Recommended Actions

Scenario	Actions
Future dates set by accident	- Cross-reference results by field to identify the likely source. - Check forms, workflows, and integrations that write to the affected field. - Correct or clear incorrect future dates.
Future dates set on purpose	- Confirm the field is meant to hold future dates and reverse the threshold if needed. - Document the expected use of the field so future audits aren't flagged unnecessarily.
Protecting reporting and automation	- Exclude or flag records with implausible future dates in reports, dashboards, and SLA or forecasting logic.