Running the Calculation

The Licensing Position is not updated automatically — you run Calculate Licensing Position when you want to refresh it. This page covers the dialog, the right defaults to use, and when to recalculate.

When to Recalculate

Run a calculation after:

A discovery run has loaded new asset or software data
License records have been added, modified, or imported
Catalog entries have changed (License Type, Defining Titles)
An asset has been disposed or its attributes have changed
You have edited the calculation rules (see Customizing the Calculation)

For routine operations, schedule the calculation to run nightly — see Operations: Scheduling and Monitoring.

Opening the Calculate Dialog

Navigate to Licensing → Calculate Licensing Position:

Calculate dialog

The dialog shows three things:

Field	What It Says
Currently Calculated To	The latest period the engine has calculated up to
Start Date	The date to recalculate from
End Date	The date to recalculate to

Plus the Configure button — opens the rules editor; see Customizing the Calculation: Editing Rules.

What Start Date and End Date Mean

This is critical to understand because the wrong choice can rewrite history.

End Date is straightforward: the latest date you want the position to be current as of. Almost always today (or end of current month for monthly cycles).

Start Date is destructive: it tells the engine which date to delete and rebuild transactions from. The engine deletes every transaction with apply date ≥ Start Date, then reposts.

Start Date Choice	Effect
First of current month	Recalculates the current period only — historical periods preserved
First of current quarter	Recalculates the current quarter — last quarter preserved
Six months ago	Deletes and reposts six months of transaction history
Two years ago	Wipes two years of history; the position for any period in that range may differ from what was previously published

The dialog warns about this:

Choosing an earlier start date will remove existing software transactions and recalculate each period between the start and end dates.

The Right Default: Current Period Only

For routine operation, set Start Date to the first of the current month (or first of current quarter, depending on your reporting cadence). End Date to today.

This recalculates only the open period, leaving previously-closed periods exactly as they were when you last reported on them.

Start Date:  01-Apr-2026
End Date:    27-Apr-2026

This is what your scheduled nightly job should run. Historical periods do not change; the current period reflects the latest state.

When to Recalculate History

Sometimes you do need to rewrite history:

Scenario	Start Date To Use
You changed the calculation rules and want them retroactive	The earliest date affected — but think carefully
You discovered a data quality bug and want to correct historical reporting	The date the bug started
You imported a license late and want it to count for past periods	The license's purchase date

Be aware: recalculating historical periods means previously-published reports will no longer reproduce. If you have shared a report externally and an audit refers to it, the position you can produce now may differ from the one you sent. Document the recalculation event.