It worked better to use 20000101 instead of "NA" in date start role. Any chance you are able to assist with the other two issues? Here is a sample data set:
csuite<-structure(list(id = c(723654, 885618, 269861, 1383642, 250276,
815511, 1506680, 1567855, 667345, 795731), startdate = c("20080629",
"20081201", "20060927", "20100203", "20060831", "20080910",
"20100411", "20100515", "20080412", "20080828"), enddate = c("20080813",
"20090208", "20071012", "20100909", "20070630", "20100427",
"20100413", "20100516", "20100420", "20100309")), .Names = c("id",
"DateStartRole", "DateEndRole"), class = "data.frame", row.names = c("1",
"2", "3", "4", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "11"))