Billing start date

It is the start of the period for which automated and manual license utilization data will be reported for a cluster. This is the license start date if you do not have an explicit billing start date configured.

Vault also uses the billing start date as a default start timestamp for:

• Direct queries via the activity log API
• Activity export CLI

As of 1.16.7, 1.17.3 and later, Vault clusters will automatically adjust the billing start date to provide a year's worth of utilization data.

This means that the billing start dates from earlier years will get updated to current calendar year, unless the date has not yet occured this year, in which case it will remain in the last calendar year. The billing start date will adjust accordingly for leap years.

The default billing start date used in queries and license utilization reporting will be automatically adjusted to the latest billing year. Past year billing information will still be retained.

For example, assume a customer has signed a deal for 3 years with a license start date of Dec 1, 2023. After upgrading to the version with this change, the billing start date auto-rolls to the most recent year.

• If the upgrade happens on Sept 1, 2024, the billing start date will continue to be Dec 1, 2023. Once we reach Dec 1, 2024, the billing start date will automatically roll to Dec 1, 2024.
• If the upgrade happens on Dec 15, 2024, the billing start date should automatically roll to Dec 1, 2024 after upgrade.