- date: documentation ( source)
- strtotime: documentation ( source)
<?php
$month=12;
$year=2014;
$thisContract['startDate']='2014-12-31';
$thisDate = strtotime($month.'/1/'.$year. ' +1 month');
$hasntStarted = ($thisDate<=strtotime($thisContract['startDate']));
echo date('Y-m-d',$thisDate);
echo $hasntStarted;