Can an SSIS variable have a default value?
you should be able to do it quite easily like this:


Bring the variables editor up &amp; add a variable to contain your preferred date
Inspect the variable property window 
Choose the ellipsis for the Expressions property to get the expression editor
Define your date output using getdate() functions etc. (reasonable subset of T-SQL fns are present)
The result will be shown in the variables pane (value) &amp; re-evaluated at runtime 
For testing, remove the expression &amp; replace with a fixed value of your choosing 
Get really clever &amp; add separate debug_date &amp; debug_mode variables that you can use in the expression to switch between the expression &amp; your fixed value depending which mode you are in.