Business letters: Date

On this page

• Where to place the date
  • Date after a letterhead
  • Date after a return address
• How to format the date
• Additional information

Where to place the date

The date is the second standard part of a business letter. It comes after the letterhead or the return address.

Date after a letterhead

If using a letterhead, place the date at the left margin, on the third line below the letterhead. (For an example, see the article Business letters: Model letter in recommended format.)

Date after a return address

If using a return address, place the date at the left margin, on the line immediately below the last line of the return address:

Note: The guidelines above are for a letter in full block style. In modified block style, the date is placed on the same line as in full block style, but it begins at the centre of the page instead of at the left margin. For more information on different letter styles, see the article Business letters: Letter styles.

How to format the date

The date in a business letter includes the month, day and year.

The month begins with a capital; and the month and year should be written in full, not abbreviated.

A comma is used between the day and the year.

Note that the day is represented by a cardinal number (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) and not an ordinal number (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.):

Additional information

• Correspondence and addresses – Guidelines and resources
• Business letters: Model letter in recommended format
• Business letters: Letter styles
• Date: How to write the date correctly