---
title: "Specifying tenors in LUSID"
slug: "specifying-tenors-in-lusid"
updated: 2026-03-08T16:07:37Z
published: 2026-03-08T16:07:37Z
canonical: "support.lusid.com/specifying-tenors-in-lusid"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.lusid.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Specifying tenors in LUSID

You are required to specify a [tenor](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tenor.asp) in various places in LUSID, for example in a [flow convention or index convention](/v1/docs/flow-conventions-and-index-conventions), as part of a [complex market data object](/v1/docs/how-do-i-upload-an-object-to-the-complex-market-data-store) such as a FX forward curve, and also optionally in a [recipe](/v1/docs/what-is-a-recipe#quote-interval) to specify a 'look back' validity period for market data.

To do this, use the syntax `<integer><unit>`, where:

- `<integer>` is zero or a positive whole number.
- `<unit>` is one of the following:
  - `Min` - Minute
  - `Hour` - Hour
  - `D` - Day
  - `BD` or `Bd` - Business day (as determined by a [holiday calendar](/v1/docs/using-calendars-in-lusid))
  - `W` - Week
  - `M` - Month
  - `Q` or `Qtr` - Quarter
  - `SA` - Semi-annual
  - `Y` - Year

For example, `1Min` or `2D` or `3M` or `10Y`.

Note the following:

- You cannot specify fractions of numbers, so to represent one and a half years you would specify `18M`.
- Some tenors are equivalent, so for example `12M ≡ 4Q ≡ 2SA ≡ 1Y` and `6M ≡ 2Q ≡ 1SA` and so on. Others are not, so for example `52W ≠ 1Y`.
- You *can* specify `2Day` instead of `2D`, `3Month` instead of `3M` and so on, but LUSID stores the acronym rather than the noun.
- You can specify `1T` (one term) for instruments (such as a zero-coupon bond) that require a single or 'empty' tenor.