# A text string containing the current UTC timestamp in the format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss' generate a formula with errors (using Now()) **URL:** \ **Category:** Bugs & Issues\ **Created:** [July 19, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236 "2025-07-19T15:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fred](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/fred/32/12264_2.png) [@Fred](https://community.fibery.io/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/1 "2025-07-19T15:24:15Z")
![Screenshot 2025-07-19 171551](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/4/47e433ef1f9c54f653125274d42bb007ac36d1cc.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/2 "2025-07-19T16:04:06Z")
`Now()` is not available in formula fields, only in automation formulas. > **[Formulas Reference](https://the.fibery.io/@public/User_Guide/Guide/Formulas-Reference-44/anchor=Now()--41e55ac1-6903-4a56-8291-627a2c069362)** ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/fred/32/12264_2.png) [@Fred](https://community.fibery.io/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 5:35am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/3 "2025-07-20T05:35:37Z")
Yes, I know. But the formula was generated by your LLM. Anyway, the real question is: how can I get the current time if Now() is not usable in formula fields? Thanks for your answer. ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 7:47am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/4 "2025-07-20T07:47:02Z")
It’s not possible to get the current time in the formula field. This is because it would need rerun the formula for all entities every minute, which would be a large computing load. (my guess) But if you share what it is you’re trying to do, maybe there’s a workaround or a different, better way to do it. Welcome to the Fibery community by the way! :)) ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/fred/32/12264_2.png) [@Fred](https://community.fibery.io/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 8:01am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/5 "2025-07-20T08:01:03Z")
Really, I don’t understand why. It makes sense that the formula will be evaluated at the time of row insert or update. It is the same for Today(): if what you wrote is true, the same should happen when Today() is used in the formula. ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 8:07am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/6 "2025-07-20T08:07:36Z")
> [@Fred](#): > > the same should happen when Today() is used in the formula. Yes, but it would then only update once a day, not once a minute. Taking less computing power. I’m not sure how much computing it really takes, maybe someone from the team can comment on it. But if you share what it is you’re trying to build, maybe there’s a different solution! ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 8:15am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/7 "2025-07-20T08:15:41Z")
> [@Fred](#): > > if what you wrote is true, the same should happen when Today() is used in the formula. This _is_ what happens. Every night around midnight UTC, any formulas containing `Today()` will be recalculated. > [@Fred](#): > > But the formula was generated by your LLM. Yes, unfortunately AI will sometimes confabulate, but I can ask the devs if we can specifically exclude knowledge about Now() from the AI responsible for formula fields. ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 8:17am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/8 "2025-07-20T08:17:37Z")
Your proposed field name suggests that your looking for something close to the existing `Modification Date` field. Is there something missing from this existing functionality? ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/fred/32/12264_2.png) [@Fred](https://community.fibery.io/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 8:44am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/9 "2025-07-20T08:44:05Z")
Suppose that I want to include the current timestamp inside a formula field for saving when this field has been compiled, I can use Modification Date for that. Suppose that some day, I edit the row changing another field, for example, “Time spent”. Of course, the Modification Date will be updated, the formula field evaluated, and the value changed with the new Modification Date But this is not what I want. I want this field unchanged! ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 8:57am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/10 "2025-07-20T08:57:40Z")
> [@Fred](#): > > I want this field unchanged! So you want the creation date? I’m not really understanding what you’re going for. Just for your theoretical understanding though, formula fields are not updated when the entity is CREATED, they are updated any time they should be changed. So if you use the “Today” in a formula field, it will be updated every day, on all entities, without you changing anything. If you want to trigger something that happened only when entity (row) is created, you should use automation, and trigger for when it’s created, to update a field. ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/fred/32/12264_2.png) [@Fred](https://community.fibery.io/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 9:05am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/11 "2025-07-20T09:05:44Z")
It’s simple: I want that my formula field contains a timestamp value of “when it was entered for the first time o when it was updated”. No automation after the “entry” or “update” moment. ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 9:17am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/12 "2025-07-20T09:17:48Z")
There’s some conceptual misunderstanding on formula fields I think. I’m just not sure where. You don’t create the formula on each row. You make the formula field, and it’s the same formula for all rows, and gets calculated any time the value of the formula changes. Is that part clear? I’m still not exactly sure what it is you are trying to achieve. Can you go through the step by step? Not just the how of what you’re trying to achieve, but also the why. Maybe if we understand why you’re trying to do it like, there’s a different way to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/fred/32/12264_2.png) [@Fred](https://community.fibery.io/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 9:55am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/13 "2025-07-20T09:55:27Z")
Suppose my row is a Purchase order. I have a formula field containing the values ( ‘qty’ \* ‘price’ \* ‘conversionrate’), where conversionrate is the change applied from one currency to another. It’s important to “stamp” the exact moment, **and the resulting string must stay unchanged until at least one of the three fields involved is changed.** Something like “The amount ( ‘qty’ \* ‘price’ \* ‘conversionrate’) has been determined on 2025-07-20 09:51.123Z” ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 10:10am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/14 "2025-07-20T10:10:00Z")
Where is the value of conversionrate coming from in your example? As @RonMakesSystems says, I think your understanding of how formulas work is maybe not quite right. Perhaps an automation is what you need … ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 10:12am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/15 "2025-07-20T10:12:48Z")
> [@Fred](#): > > the resulting string must stay unchanged until at least one of the three fields involved is changed. Just to be clear, this _is_ how formulas work. If any value used in a formula changes, it will be recalculated. If not, it won’t. This is why we don’t allow `Now()`, because its value changes every second ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 11:24am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/16 "2025-07-20T11:24:37Z")
I’ve built something similar to this with currency conversions. I’m not home now but I’ll make a short video explaining how it works, and share a template tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 9:20am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/17 "2025-07-21T09:20:15Z")
@Fred Here’s a video showing how to build a orders manager with different currencies. This is what I understood you were going for from what you explained above. If I’m mistaken, let me know! Video: [https://youtu.be/NRrnEwkSED8](https://youtu.be/NRrnEwkSED8) Template: `https://shared.fibery.io/t/d7de2232-88b0-42f2-9203-dada11fcbd38-orders` ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/fred/32/12264_2.png) [@Fred](https://community.fibery.io/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 6:47am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/18 "2025-07-22T06:47:10Z")
@RonMakesSystems Great example Ron! Inspiring. However, my initial intent was only to save (automatically) a timestamp in a text field to remember when it was last edited, independently of what happens to the entire row (where we have Modification Date, although not yet for rich text). Probably I have to define an automation for that, if I have understood well. Thanks for your support! ---
**Author:** ![RonMakesSystems](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/ronmakessystems/32/14122_2.png) [@RonMakesSystems](https://community.fibery.io/u/RonMakesSystems)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:10am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/19 "2025-07-22T07:10:39Z")
I’m glad it was helpful! Yeah I wasn’t sure exactly the use case, but I thought maybe seeing something built out could help understand the concepts. Good luck!! ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236/20 "2025-07-22T16:35:11Z")
> [@Fred](#): > > Probably I have to define an automation for that, if I have understood I think you want an Automation that is **triggered** when any of [some particular fields] are **updated** , and whose **Action** puts the value of ~~Today()~~ Now() in your “Last Update Date” field (which hopefully is a DateTime field). [Next page](https://community.fibery.io/t/a-text-string-containing-the-current-utc-timestamp-in-the-format-yyyy-mm-dd-hhss-generate-a-formula-with-errors-using-now/9236.md?page=2)