BusOpp: Meta_Dates

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What this view is for

Busopp.meta_dates provides the key lifecycle and timing dates for business opportunities.

If core_details tells you what the opportunity is and meta_codes tells you how it should be categorised, meta_dates tells you when important things happened (or are expected to happen).

This view is essential for understanding pipeline flow, forecasting, and lifecycle analysis.

Level of detail (grain)

  • Multiple rows per opportunity
  • One row per date attribute

This view is intentionally long and thin.
An opportunity with several lifecycle dates will appear multiple times — once for each date type.

What you’ll find in this view

Each row represents a single date associated with an opportunity, including:

  • OBJECT_SEQ – the paired company + opportunity identifier
  • META_TYPE – the lifecycle context of the date
  • ATTRIBUTE – the specific date meaning
  • The date value itself

You’ll notice that the word “DATE” has been purposefully removed from attribute names.
In this context, everything in this view is a date, so repeating it would add noise rather than clarity.

Instead, meaning comes from the combination of META_TYPE + ATTRIBUTE.

Available date types

The following META_TYPE / ATTRIBUTE combinations are available in Busopp.meta_dates:

META_TYPEATTRIBUTE
PROPOSALENTERED
PROPOSALESTIMATED_SIGN
PROPOSALCLOSURE
PROPOSALPLANNED_BID_ARRIVAL
PROPOSALEXPIRATION
DELIVERYSTART
DELIVERYWANTED
DELIVERYACTUAL_SIGN

The META_TYPE provides the lifecycle context (proposal vs delivery), while the ATTRIBUTE describes the specific event within that phase.

How to join this view

Every row includes OBJECT_SEQ, consistent with all other Busopp views.

Always join Busopp.meta_dates to Busopp.core_details using OBJECT_SEQ.

This keeps lifecycle timing aligned to the correct opportunity and avoids accidental duplication or cross-company joins.

How this view is commonly used

meta_dates is typically used to:

  • Analyse pipeline progression over time
  • Drive time-based filtering (e.g. entered this quarter, closing next month)
  • Support forecasting and ageing analysis
  • Anchor values to specific lifecycle events

It is rarely used on its own — it adds time context to opportunities and values.

Working with the long, thin date structure

Like meta_codes, this view is long and thin by design.

In most reports, you’ll want to:

  1. Filter to the date types you actually need
  2. Create a combined attribute identifier
  3. Pivot to a wide, report-friendly shape

Creating a combined date attribute

Because META_TYPE provides essential context, it’s strongly recommended to create a combined attribute using both fields.

Example (Power Query):

= Table.AddColumn(
    Source,
    "DATE_ATTRIBUTE",
    each [META_TYPE] & "_" & [ATTRIBUTE],
    type text
)

This avoids ambiguity (for example, multiple “START” dates in different lifecycle phases) and makes the next step much clearer.

Pivoting to a wide date table

Once the combined attribute exists, you can pivot the table so that:

  • Each DATE_ATTRIBUTE becomes a column
  • Each OBJECT_SEQ becomes a single row
  • Dates become explicit, easy-to-use fields

The result is a clean lifecycle dates table that feels natural to work with in visuals, filters and measures.

Things to watch out for

  • Don’t assume there is only one “important” date — context matters
  • Be explicit about which lifecycle dates you are using in calculations
  • Avoid mixing proposal and delivery dates without intention

If a time-based measure feels confusing, it’s often because the lifecycle context hasn’t been made explicit enough.

Where this fits in a report build

A typical flow is:

  1. Start with Busopp.core_details
  2. Add Busopp.meta_dates to understand lifecycle timing
  3. Shape dates using a combined attribute and pivot if needed
  4. Add meta_codes and item_values_lines for context and value

This keeps identity, time, classification and value clearly separated.

Key takeaway

Busopp.meta_dates gives you flexible, contextual lifecycle timing for opportunities.

The dates themselves are simple — the meaning comes from the META_TYPE + ATTRIBUTE combination.
Shape it deliberately, pivot when useful, and your pipeline timing will become much easier to reason about.

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