Hello, @Tonia_Zo 

Welcome to the Docusign Community!

What do you mean with “Backdate”?  What do you want to do?

Thanks,

Alexandre

HI Alexandre! 

I need the document to reflect an agreement made on a specific earlier date.

Is there a way apart from the date mentioned in the document that I can set the date on the summary of the signatures ‘’back date’’ meaning a date in the past.

Thank you for taking the time to help with this.

Tonia

Hi, @Tonia_Zo 

Let’s think on this scenario, perhaps it’s similar to yours.

An envelope was sent in 10/10/2023 and signed. All signatures and date signed are in the Audit file known as Certificate of completion.

Now, I need to send a new envelope with a new document. I can copy the completed envelope from 10/10/2023 that will create a new envelope with the contents from the completed one, now I add my new document, place the signing fields on it. I can mention something like this: “On this envelope there is a contract signed in 10/10/2023 that you can view before signing this new one...” or something like that.

Also, you could add the Certification of Completion from the signed envelope to this new one, there are all signers and dates. Both previous signed document and Certification of Completion would be used as a reference.

I hope that helps!

Alexandre

@Tonia_Zo

No, you cannot change the details in the certificate of completion (CoC) to backdate, as this would be false information to when it was actually signed. However, in the envelope itself you could decide not to use the date signed field, which will be the actual date of signature, but instead use a text field that you pre-fill and make read only with whatever date should appear on the document. If signed today, the actual signing date would be 19th of April, but on the document it could say 12th of April. Still in the CoC it will show the 19th of April as the date signed.

Backdating documents may falsify the financials of a company. On paper this was possible and common in some companies, but should’t be done in the past. Leveraging Docusign eSignature is actually supporting companies to be compliant and not backdating documents as done on paper.

Hi @Tonia_Zo,

I hope you are doing well.

I would like to confirm if you were able to solve your issue by utilizing the solution that was suggested? 

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Otherwise, feel free to let me know and I will gladly help you address the situation as soon as possible.

Best regards,   

Alejandro R. | Docusign Community Moderator   

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