Organizations many times post donations in a month after recording the donations.  For example: I would record a March 25th gift in April or didn't get around to posting the gift in F/E until April.  The current April date is used in F/E and I have to change the dates in the journal batch.  The default should be the gift date so financials would be properly maintained and save time changing the dates in F/E. If the timing of the gift is more than 1 month behind, then the posting date could be change to whatever you need.