---
title: Change the timeframe for individual cells in Drafts Excel
description: Learn how to give individual cells their own timeframe in Drafts Excel, for example opening and closing cash in the cash flow statement.
---
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# Change the timeframe for individual cells in Drafts Excel
## How to tag opening and closing balances as instants in a table that otherwise uses periods, like the cash flow statement.
**Applies to:** Drafts Excel
### When you need this
When you set up a table in Drafts Excel, each value column gets one timeframe, for example "2025" (the current period) and "2024" (the previous period). All cells in that column inherit it.
That works for most rows, but some tables mix two kinds of values:
- Period values cover a whole year, for example *Net cash flow from operating activities*.
- Instant values are measured on one specific date, for example *Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period* and *…at the end of the period*.
In the cash flow statement, the opening and closing cash rows are instants, while everything else is a period. These cells need their own timeframe.
If they keep the column's period timeframe, validation shows:
> *Element's period type "instant" does not match the timeframe's period type. Did you use the correct timeframe?*
### Which timeframe to choose
| Row | Current year column | Previous year column |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cash at the beginning of the period | Instant · *(period start)* of the current year | Instant · *(period start)* of the previous year |
| Cash at the end of the period | Instant · *(period end)* of the current year | Instant · *(period end)* of the previous year |
For a calendar year 2025 with comparatives for 2024, the options appear as for example *2025-01-01 (period start)*, *2025-12-31 (period end)*, *2024-01-01 (period start)* and *2024-12-31 (period end)*.
### How to change the timeframe for a cell
Do this for each value cell that needs a different timeframe, so for the cash flow statement four cells: two years × opening and closing cash.
1. Open the workbook and Drafts Excel.
2. Turn on the **"TagFocus"** toggle.
3. Click the value cell you want to change, for example the 2025 amount for closing cash. Drafts shows the cell's tagging details.
4. In the Timeframe box, click the edit icon next to Timeframe variant.
5. Under Select timeframe variant, choose Instant.
6. Under Select instant, choose the right date (see the table above).
7. Click Save Timeframe.
The box is now marked Custom timeframe, so you can see that this cell differs from the rest of the column.
Repeat for the other cells, then run **Validate** again.
### Go back to the column's timeframe
Click the cell, click the edit icon in the Timeframe box and click Remove Timeframe. The cell inherits the column's timeframe again.
### Tips
- Change the timeframe by clicking on the value cells, not on the label in the first column.
- The concept you tag the row with must also be an instant concept, for example *Cash and cash equivalents*. If the concept is a period concept, change the tag instead of the timeframe.
- The same method works in other tables with a few exceptions, for example a balance-type figure in a note that otherwise shows changes during the year.
- In the statement of changes in equity, each row has its own timeframe from the start, so you set the timeframe per row when you tag it.
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