Last Actual Date
Last Actual Date is a setting in Causal which determines what is displayed as an “actual”.
The Last Actual Date time setting does not affect any calculations, unless you have formulas that use the lastActualDate helper variable (see here for more).
Note: this is different to the Import Data Until setting, which controls which timesteps data is imported for, and therefore does affect calculations/values, as data always overrides any formulas/values. See What is data for more.
If the last actual date is toggled on:
- In line charts, and in the sparkline of variables: Actuals are shown as solid, and Forecasts are shown as dashed. In bar charts: Actuals are solid, Forecasts are striped.


- In tables, and in the spreadsheet workspace: a tick with a circle is shown in the timestep header, next to the timestep.

You can find the Last Actual Date in the Time Settings modal in the top-left of the spreadsheet workspace.

- You’ll usually want this last actual date to be the same across all linked models, but there is the option to set it on a model-by-model basis should you wish.
- Versions: When you save a version of your model, it will save with the existing last actual date at the time of saving. If you wish to update this later on, head to the History button, and click edit next to the version you want to change.

Last modified 10mo ago