Unexpected Date Values in Office Template Reports: Time Zone Considerations

Author: Patrick Knowles
Date: August 7, 2025
Audience: Report Developers
Products Applicable: Jama Connect®

Use Case

When exporting date fields using Office Template reports in Jama Connect®, users may notice unexpected or inconsistent date values. This behavior is typically caused by how Jama Connect records all timestamps in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

A common example occurs when items are created close to midnight local time. Depending on your time zone’s offset from UTC, this can cause the recorded date to appear as either the previous or next calendar day in reports — leading to confusion, especially during automated test cycles.

Best Practice

This scenario frequently affects teams that run overnight automated tests. For instance:

A team in the UTC+2 time zone runs automated tests at 1:00 AM local time.

Because Jama Connect stores timestamps in UTC, the created items are marked as 11:00 PM UTC — which falls on the previous day.

When this data is exported via an Office Template, the reported date appears as yesterday, not the intended test execution date.

To prevent this:

Schedule automated tests outside of the overlap window (typically midnight to 2:00 AM local time).
In the above example, shifting test runs to after 2:00 AM local time ensures UTC and local dates are aligned, avoiding confusion in reports.

Implementation Recommendations

Depending on your workflow, you can use one or both of the following workarounds:

1. Adjust Test Timing

Recommended for automated test workflows
Run tests outside of the UTC-local midnight crossover window
Helps ensure the created timestamp aligns with the intended calendar date when exported

2. Use Custom Fields

If test timing cannot be adjusted:
- Create a custom date field such as Executed On (Local) or Created On (Local)
- Populate this field:
  - Manually, for small-scale updates
  - Programmatically via the Jama REST API, for automation and accuracy
Use this custom field in your Office Template to reflect the correct local execution date

References

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