Using HubSpot date properties for better sales reporting
How to interpret HubSpot’s core date fields with confidence
If your sales reporting feels inconsistent or hard to trust, the issue often comes down to how your team interprets HubSpot's date properties.
These fields look similar, but they measure very different behaviors.
Before you build new dashboards or workflows, it helps to get a clear handle on what each one actually tracks.
If your CRM is creating confusion right now, book an audit with us. We’ll help you get clarity before you scale your reporting.
Last activity date
What it measures
The most recent date and time a note, call, logged sales email, meeting, task, or chat was added to the record. HubSpot updates this property automatically.
How to use it
This is a broad measure of sales activity.
Use it when you want a high-level view of productivity or to check whether a contact was recently touched in any way.
It is not meant to measure buyer engagement.
Last contacted date
What it measures
The latest time a call, chat conversation, one-to-one sales email, or meeting was logged.
It excludes tasks and notes.
How to use it
This field is your best indicator of actual outreach.
Use it to manage follow-up rules, hold reps accountable to SLAs, and identify contacts who are overdue for a touchpoint.
Last modified date
What it measures
The moment any property on the record was updated.
This includes workflow updates, manual edits, form submissions, and logged activities.
How to use it
Use this to understand data freshness.
It highlights records that may be outdated or untouched for long stretches of time.
Last engagement date
What it measures
The most recent one-to-one email open or click, meeting booking, form submission, or lead revisit event.
It does not update for marketing email engagement and only updates when the contact has an owner assigned.
How to use it
This field tracks real signs of interest.
Use it for lead scoring, intent-based workflows, and sales alerts.
It is not a replacement for marketing engagement metrics.
💡Using HubSpot AND Salesforce? Check out our Lead Scoring Playbook.
Recent sales email open date
What it measures
The last time the contact opened a one-to-one sales email sent from a connected inbox or the HubSpot Sales extension.
It does not update for emails sent to multiple recipients or automated emails.
How to use it
Use this to notify a rep that a prospect has reopened a conversation.
It works well in re-engagement sequences and follow-up workflows.
Recent sales email replied date
What it measures
The most recent time the contact replied to a one-to-one sales email sent through a connected Gmail or Outlook inbox.
How to use it
Use this to move a lead to a “Connected” status or to trigger a change in the nurturing path.
If your reports feel “off,” the date fields are often the reason
Most teams use these fields interchangeably.
That’s why reports show inconsistent numbers, outreach rules break, and dashboards never seem to match what reps see in the CRM.
If you want accurate reporting, predictable processes, and cleaner attribution, your date properties must be defined and used consistently across your sales and RevOps
workflows.
If you want help with this, book a HubSpot audit with our team.
We’ll review your property usage, fix broken rules, and rebuild your sales reporting so it finally reflects reality.
