Lookback questions love month wording. Finance wants six months of statements ending on the fifteenth. HR asks when someone started if they have been here "about three months." A chart note says symptoms began two months before the visit. The month count is easy to repeat; the actual calendar day is what filters and tickets need. The fields above are the plain version: anchor date, months backward, one earlier date to paste.
This page steps back by calendar months, not by multiplying thirty. March 31 minus one month lands in February on the last valid day—the same month-boundary behavior as moving forward, just reversed. If the policy literally says ninety days prior, ninety days before May 9, 2026 is the wording match, not a month count.
Put the date the document names in the start field—statement period end, incident, filing due date—not "today" because it is open in the browser. Wrong anchor is the mistake that survives a perfect calculation.
Bank windows and "about three months ago"
Rounded chat months and precise rules diverge. Three calendar months before the ninth of May lands on the ninth three months earlier; "about three months" in Slack might mean ninety days, twelve weeks, or "since the start of last month." Three months before May 9, 2026 is worth one check on a printed calendar before anyone exports data.
Half-year lookbacks show up in reviews and compliance more than homework. Six months before the same anchor is the phrase people confuse with "180 days" when the PDF never switched units. When both ends are already fixed, January 1 through May 9, 2026 in months answers span, not step-back from one point.
Forward deadlines live on the other page
Renewals and notice periods that point ahead—not back—belong on the from-now form. Twelve months forward from May 9 is the anniversary shape; mixing it up with twelve months ago is a common copy-paste error in long threads.
The default thirty in the form is a stress-test count—long visa histories, academic lookbacks, anything where subtracting months in your head fails quietly. Before you paste the date into a filter, read the detail line and watch anchors on the 29th or 31st; February still surprises people who estimated first.
- Whole months only; odd partial rules need days or fixed endpoints.
- Billing "calendar months" may not match this step-back landing day.
- Copy anchor plus month count beside the answer for next week's thread.
Ordinary reference math, not legal advice. When the date matters, keep the reference event and the month count with the answer.