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Business central - date formatting in CSV

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Posted on by PC-03070839-0

Hi Team,

I need to export few fields in payment journals into csv file. document date is getting exported as 11/6/2025 but we need 11/06/2025.

Can you please suggest the ways i can export date as expected.

Thanks!

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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André Arnaud de Cal... 300,977 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Moved the question from the Dynamics 365 General to the Dynamics 365 Business Central forum.

I also updated the title to let volunteers know the contents of the question. Just "Business Central" is too generic.

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Jainam M. Kothari 15,639 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hello,

To export the Document Date from Payment Journals in the DD/MM/YYYY format (e.g., 11/06/2025) in Business Central, you can format the date using AL code in a custom report or XMLport with FORMAT("Document Date", 0, '<Day,2>/<Month,2>/<Year,4>').

If you're exporting to Excel, apply a custom date format (dd/mm/yyyy) in Excel itself. For data exchange or page extensions, ensure the date is formatted before writing to the CSV.

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Sumit Singh 10,079 on at

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Hi @PC-03070839-0,

CSV is plain text, so as far as I know you might output the date as text already formatted as dd/mm/yyyy before saving in CSV.

Workaround: Convert Date to Text Before Saving CSV (No Customisation-And as per my knowledge and trial)
Here’s a step-by-step workaround that ensures the date is exported as dd/mm/yyyy with leading zeros:
Step 1: Use a formula to convert date to text
In a new column (e.g., Formatted Date), enter:
=TEXT(A2, "dd/mm/yyyy")

Replace A2 with the cell containing your original date.

This will show 11/06/2025 instead of 11/6/2025.

Step 2: Copy and Paste as Values

Select the entire Formatted Date column.

Right-click → Copy.

Right-click again → Paste Special → Values.

This replaces formulas with actual text values.

Step 3: Delete the original date column (optional)
This ensures only the correctly formatted date is exported.
Step 4: Save as CSV
Go to File → Save As → CSV (UTF-8).
Now the date will appear as 11/06/2025 in the CSV file, not 11/6/2025.

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Valentin Castravet 31,342 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Can you provide more information, how are you exporting to a CSV file? Did you create a custom export or are you using data exchange definitions?

Valentin Castravet
Work: Zander ERP Services
Blog: Dynamics 365 Business Central Insights
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/valentin-c-0500a247/

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PC-03070839-0 42 on at

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Hi,

I have used custom procedure.

ExportTextBuilder.AppendLine(

StrSubstNo(

Text001Lbl,

BankAccountNo,

TransitNumber,

VendorRec.Name,

Format(CurrCheckNo),

Format(TotalAmount, 0, 9),

// Formateddate,

// Format(TempJournal1."Document Date", 0, '<Month,2>/<Day,2>/<Year4>'),

FormatDateMMDDYYYY(TempJournal1."Document Date"),

VendorRec.Address,

VendorRec."Address 2",

VendorRec.City,

VendorRec.County,

CountryCode,

VendorRec."Post Code"

)

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OussamaSabbouh 5,798 on at

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Hello,

When exporting dates to CSV in Business Central, the system uses the environment’s regional format by default (e.g., 11/6/2025). To control the output format (e.g., 11/06/2025), you must use the AL FORMAT method with a custom date format in your export code.

✅ Example:

TextDate := FORMAT("Document Date", 0, '<Day,2>/<Month,2>/<Year4>');

This outputs 11/06/2025 consistently regardless of regional settings.

Regards,

Oussama Sabbouh

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Gregory Mavrogeorgis 763 on at

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Hi,

Fastest (one-off)

Export as usual → open in Excel → format the Document Date column to dd/mm/yyyy → Save As → CSV.
Excel will write 11/06/2025 into the CSV.

No-code tweak in BC

My Settings → Region = English (United Kingdom) (or any dd/MM/yyyy locale), then re-export. Many exports pick up your region’s date format.

Proper/automated

Data Exchange (CSV): in your Data Exchange Definition, set Data Formatting Culture = en-GB.

Custom AL export (XmlPort/Report): output the date as text:

DocDateTxt := Format("Document Date", 0, '<Day,2>/<Month,2>/<Year4>');

and write DocDateTxt to the CSV.

If you found this helpful please mark it as verified

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Jeffrey Bulanadi 8,760 on at

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Hi,

BC’s default date formatting during CSV export often follows the system’s regional settings, which can lead to inconsistent formats like 11/6/2025 instead of the expected 11/06/2025. To control this, you’ll need to explicitly format the date field during export.

Here are your options:

Use XMLport with custom formatting

If you're exporting via XMLport, you can apply a custom format using the FORMAT function:
FORMAT("Document Date", 0, '<Day,2>/<Month,2>/<Year,4>')

This ensures the day and month are always two digits, and the year is four digits.

Use AL code with TextBuilder or FileWriter

If you're exporting manually using AL code, format the date before writing to the file:
MyFormattedDate := FORMAT("Document Date", 0, '<Day,2>/<Month,2>/<Year,4>'); FileWriter.Write(MyFormattedDate);

Avoid relying on system locale

The default FORMAT(Date) uses the current user’s regional settings, which may vary. Always use explicit formatting to ensure consistency across environments.

Test with different regional settings

If you’re using Data Exchange Definitions or Electronic Reporting, check the format settings in the mapping or transformation rules. These may also default to system locale unless overridden.

Helpful Reference
Export data to CSV using XMLport – Dynamics 365 Lab
Community thread: Date formatting in CSV export

If you find this helpful, feel free to mark this as the suggested or verified answer.

Cheers
Jeffrey

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Aman Kakkar 2,319 on at

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Hi,

Hope this helps -

Format(TempJournal1."Document Date", 0, '<Month,2>/<Day,2>/<Year4>')

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YUN ZHU 95,449 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi, hope the following helps.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/developer/devenv-format-property?wt.mc_id=DX-MVP-5004336#standard-date-formats

PS: Business Central 2024 wave 2 (BC25): New Date/Time/DateTime methods

https://yzhums.com/55408/

Thanks.

ZHU

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