Calligra Sheets YEAR Function: Extract Calendar Years

The YEAR function extracts the calendar year from a date cell. =YEAR(DATE(2024;2;29)) has the expected integer result 2024. The return value is a number; it is not a string containing the date, a two-digit formatting label or a fiscal year.

Applies to: the function registry and implementations from Calligra Sheets 26.08.2, released October 8, 2026, examined October 12, 2026. KDE’s current application listing supports Linux via distribution packages/Flatpak; this guide does not claim that every version/platform executes identically. Results marked expected below were calculated independently or inferred from source. Calligra Sheets was not installed or run to observe them.

=YEAR(date)

• date (required, exactly one argument): an actual date value, an applicable cell reference containing a date, or an expression evaluated as a date. The published function XML describes the parameter as a String/Text, while the pinned implementation immediately converts it through ValueConverter::asDate before extracting its calendar component. Date strings are locale sensitive; an authentic date value is safest. Argument order is simply the one date to examine; there are no optional parameters or default values in the pinned registration.
• Return: a whole-number calendar year. The code uses Qt QDate and returns a numeric Value rather than a formatted date string. Choose a General/Number display format for result cells so the integer is visible.
• Example: =YEAR(DATE(2024;2;29)) → expected 2024. The nested DATE call uses three required integer arguments in year, month, day order.

Important KDE documentation/source discrepancy

The older official KDE handbook entry says that leaving out date gives the current calendar year number. The pinned Calligra 26.08.2 source does not register a zero-argument overload. It registers YEAR without calling setParamCount, while Function.cpp defaults to one mandatory argument and its execution-time validation rejects zero with a VALUE-class error. Thus =YEAR() should not be recommended; its exact cell-visible error spelling has not been observed in a native application. To extract a value from the current date, the proposed alternative is:

=YEAR(TODAY())

Here the result changes with the real date and recalculation settings. Unlike =YEAR(), it supplies a date value; native execution remains untested.

Language, locale and typing

The official KDE handbook shows semicolon-separated multiargument functions, for example DATE(2024;2;29). Localized spreadsheets may use different decimal notation and input conventions: follow the installed Insert Function guidance and use the locale-appropriate separator if necessary. "2/22/2002" appears as a text-date example in KDE’s documentation, but parsing an ambiguous quoted date is not guaranteed across locale or platform. For reproducible examples, construct date cells using DATE, or import real date values and inspect their type.

Enter A1 as Input date and B1 as YEAR result. In A2:A5 enter the date-creating formulas exactly as shown. These formulas produce the display dates in an appropriate ISO-style date format; adjust the display formatting only, not the underlying date values.

Then type =YEAR(A2) into B2 and fill it through B5, letting the relative reference change to A3/A4/A5. The final column contains independently calculated expected values, not software-observed output.

Why this works: each input is an unambiguous date created from its year, month and day; the func_year implementation converts to a date, checks for conversion errors, and extracts QDate::year(). The four dates were cross-checked with an independent Gregorian calendar calculation.

With the same A2:A5 test dates, enter this formula in C2 and fill through C5:

=IF(YEAR(A2)=2024;"2024 cohort";"Different year")

Expected independently checked outputs:

This classification is useful for grouped exports. For a fiscal year that begins in April, calendar YEAR alone is insufficient—you must explicitly define the fiscal rollover.

Advanced application: count days in the selected calendar year

In D2, use the first day of the next year minus the first day of the current year:

=DATE(YEAR(A2)+1;1;1)-DATE(YEAR(A2);1;1)

Mathematically expected D2: 366, because A2 is in leap year 2024. When filled down, the expected values are 366, 365, 366, 365 for the four test dates. This compound formula relies on worksheet date subtraction and date serial arithmetic, which were not executed natively; test actual values and number formatting in Calligra before relying on it for accounting or regulatory reporting. Format D2:D5 as numbers rather than dates if an unexpected date label appears.

• A calendar year is not a fiscal year: YEAR(DATE(2024;3;31)) should yield 2024, but a company with an April fiscal-year start might categorize it in a different business period.

• Date versus text: "2024" and DATE(2024;1;1) are not interchangeable. Conversion of locale-formatted date text depends on parser settings; an unparseable value can propagate a date-conversion error.

• Year boundaries: test dates around December 31/January 1, particularly if a system imports UTC timestamps but displays local time; YEAR works on the date value supplied to it, not a timezone conversion service.

• No argument: the handbook’s old claim that no argument means “current year” conflicts with 26.08.2 source arity. Instead use =YEAR(TODAY()) and confirm that TODAY is available in the installed build.

• Excel ranges: Excel documentation states a 1900–9999 year return range in its product; that is not a verified range restriction for Calligra, which uses a QDate extraction here.

• Wrong argument count: zero parameters or two parameters do not match the one-argument registration. The engine checks argument count and returns a VALUE-class error at source level. Confirm the rendered error text in the version actually installed.

• Non-date or invalid reference: the function first calls asDate, and returns its error result when conversion fails. The precise accepted date text, serial/date-base interpretation, and display/error behavior need native validation.

• The answer looks like a date instead of a number: change the output cell format to General or Number; cell formatting does not change the semantic meaning of YEAR.

• Examples use the wrong calendar convention: use DATE(year;month;day) rather than ambiguous slash-separated strings, and check that the imported data represents local dates rather than unparsed text.

• Runtime/portability limits: the source inspection establishes 26.08.2 logic and function registration; it does not establish every operating-system binary, plugin build, number format, timezone interaction, or spreadsheet application’s edge-case result.

Excel describes YEAR(serial_number) with one required date argument and a calendar-year result; that confirms analogous purpose but not identical date epochs, text parsing or handling of dates outside Excel’s supported range. A cross-application template should build dates explicitly, check locale conventions, and native-test edge cases. Microsoft’s official Excel YEAR documentation was independently checked October 12, 2026. This comparison refers only to the expressly documented shared purpose; no Excel result is used as proof of Calligra runtime behavior. YEAR has no explicit alternate registered name in the pinned Calligra catalogue.

KDE separately registers DATE to construct a date; TODAY to provide the current date; and the other component functions DAY, MONTH, YEAR. These are related functions, not aliases. See the official source links below.

• Official KDE YEAR handbook entry — syntax, one date parameter, date-text examples and the contradictory optional-argument claim; accessed 2026-10-12.
• Pinned Calligra 26.08.2 datetime.cpp function registration and implementation — source-checked YEAR arity, date conversion, error propagation and extraction; checked 2026-10-12.
• Pinned datetime.xml description — documented argument and return types, syntax and examples; checked 2026-10-12.
• Default minimum/maximum function argument count and arity guard — explains the contradiction with the handbook’s no-argument claim; checked 2026-10-12.
• Pinned DATE constructor and month/day zero guard — supports reproducible date values and the zero-input caveat; checked 2026-10-12.
• KDE Calligra Sheets releases — latest listed stable release 26.08.2 (2026-10-08) as checked 2026-10-12.
• Microsoft Excel YEAR reference — comparison only; checked 2026-10-12.

Testing limitation: Examples are independently calculated expectations. Native locale, date conversion and visible error behavior remain untested.