Why dates display the wrong value

When a date displays a value you did not expect, it is usually the time zone attached to the value. There are two kinds of date Fields, and they behave differently.

Datetime Fields carry a time, so they represent a specific point in time that can be viewed relative to a time zone. By default Informer uses the time zone set on the server, unless the current User has set a time zone on their profile, in which case the profile's time zone is used. For example, a datetime of 02-12-2018 02:00:00 EST (2 AM Eastern) displays as 02-11-2018 23:00:00 PST for a User whose time zone is Pacific, because Pacific is three hours behind Eastern. Some systems store datetimes in GMT and rely on the local time zone to display them.

Date Fields carry no time, so they are a particular day on the calendar and are not adjusted for time zone. A date Field containing 02-12-2018 always displays 02-12-2018, regardless of time zone.

Time zones can also affect which records a query returns. With the datetime above, a query for everything on or after 02-12-2018 00:00:00 returns the 02:00:00 EST record when Informer is set to Eastern, but not when it is set to Pacific, because the value shifts with the time zone.