MS Excel: WORKDAY function calculate working days
- Fakhriddinbek
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The WORKDAY function in Excel helps you calculate a future or past date by excluding weekends and (optionally) holidays. It's essential for project planning, due date tracking, and workforce scheduling, where counting only business days is crucial.
For example, if a task starts on May 1 and takes 10 working days to complete, WORKDAY can instantly return the expected completion date, skipping Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Syntax
=WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays])
Arguments:
Argument | Required | Description |
start_date | ✅ Yes | The starting date (can be a date value or cell reference). |
days | ✅ Yes | The number of working days to add (positive) or subtract (negative). |
holidays | ❌ No | A range or array of dates to exclude as holidays (optional). |
How It Works
By default, WORKDAY excludes weekends (Saturday and Sunday).
You can also exclude public holidays by providing them in the holidays argument.
Returns a serial number representing the target date (format as Date).
Examples
Example 1: Add 10 Working Days to a Start Date
=WORKDAY(DATE(2025,5,1), 10)
Result: 2025-05-15(Skips weekends; adds 10 business days)
Example 2: Subtract 5 Working Days from a Date
=WORKDAY("2025-05-15", -5)
Result: 2025-05-08
Example 3: Exclude Holidays
Assume cell range C2:C3 contains two holiday dates: 2025-05-09 and 2025-05-12.
=WORKDAY(DATE(2025,5,1), 10, C2:C3)
Result: 2025-05-19(Skips weekends and holidays)
Sample Table
Start Date | Days | Holidays (if any) | Formula | Result |
01/05/2025 | 10 | — | =WORKDAY(A2, B2) | 15/05/2025 |
01/05/2025 | 10 | 09/05, 12/05 | =WORKDAY(A3, B3, C2:C3) | 19/05/2025 |
15/05/2025 | -5 | — | =WORKDAY(A4, B4) | 08/05/2025 |
Notes
If days = 0, the result is the same as start_date if it's a weekday; otherwise, it returns the next working day.
To use a custom weekend definition (e.g., Friday & Saturday off), use WORKDAY.INTL.
Use TEXT() to format the returned serial number into a readable date format if needed.
Related Functions
Function | Description |
WORKDAY.INTL() | Customizes which days are weekends |
NETWORKDAYS() | Calculates total working days between two dates |
TODAY() | Returns the current date |
EDATE() | Shifts dates by calendar months |
Summary Table
Feature | Details |
Function Name | WORKDAY |
Purpose | Add/subtract working days from a date |
Skips | Weekends (Sat/Sun) & optional holidays |
Return Type | Date (serial number formatted as date) |
Introduced In | Excel 2007+ |
Conclusion
The WORKDAY function is a must-have for professionals working with deadlines, SLAs, and schedules. It simplifies complex date calculations by automatically ignoring weekends and holidays, making your time-based analysis more accurate and efficient.
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