Calculate Business Days in Excel
Learn how to count business days in Excel for project planning. Master the formulas that skip weekends and holidays automatically.
How the Calculate Business Days in Excel works
Use NETWORKDAYS to count working days between two dates, and WORKDAY to find a future date after adding business days. Add a holiday list to skip company holidays too.
Planning projects means knowing actual working days, not calendar days. These Excel formulas save time and prevent scheduling mistakes.
How it works
Tutorial
Excel can automatically count business days between dates and calculate deadline dates while skipping weekends and holidays. These built-in formulas save time and prevent scheduling errors for projects, contracts, and business planning.
You have two options: use the calculator above for quick business day calculations, or follow this guide to learn the Excel formulas.
The Formulas You Need
| Excel Function | What It Does | How to Use It |
|---|---|---|
| NETWORKDAYS | Count working days between dates | =NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays]) |
| WORKDAY | Find a future business day | =WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays]) |
| NETWORKDAYS.INTL | Custom weekends (like Sunday-Monday off) | =NETWORKDAYS.INTL(start, end, weekend, holidays) |
Step-by-Step Examples
Here’s how to use these formulas in real scenarios.
Example 1: Count Business Days Between Dates
Find how many working days in a project:
| Cell | Description | Value/Formula | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Project Start | 1/15/2024 | 1/15/2024 |
| A2 | Project End | 2/15/2024 | |
| A3 | Working Days | =NETWORKDAYS(A1,A2) | 23 days |
How it works:Excel counts weekdays from Jan 15 to Feb 15 =23 business days
Example 2: Calculate a Future Deadline
Find the date 30 business days from today:
| Cell | Description | Value/Formula | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Start Date | 1/15/2024 (Monday) | 1/15/2024 |
| B2 | Days Needed | 30 | 30 |
| B3 | Deadline | =WORKDAY(B1,B2) | 2/26/2024 |
How it works:Excel adds 30 weekdays (skipping weekends) =February 26, 2024
Example 3: Include Company Holidays
Skip holidays when counting or calculating:
| Setup | Formula | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Holidays in E1:E3 | 1/1/2024, 1/15/2024, 2/19/2024 | 3 holidays |
| Count with holidays | =NETWORKDAYS(A1,A2,E1:E3) | 22 days |
| Deadline with holidays | =WORKDAY(B1,B2,E1:E3) | 2/27/2024 |
Final Answer:With holidays included, 30 business days =February 27, 2024
How to Use This
Create a list of your company holidays once (in a column), then reference that range in all your formulas. Excel will automatically skip weekends and those holidays when counting or calculating dates. This works for project timelines, delivery schedules, contract deadlines, or any business planning.
Every Business Needs Backlinks, Including Yours.
Meet the smartest link building tool ever made
BlazeHive matches your pages with relevant sites, finds the exact
paragraph to place your link, and verifies placement
automatically. Build backlinks while earning credits for linking
to others.
Your first step was Calculate Business Days in Excel; your next step is easier SEO with BlazeHive.
AI-Powered Niche Matching
Get matched with relevant sites automatically Our AI analyzes your content and finds websites in your exact niche that actually want to exchange backlinks. No random link farms, no irrelevant sites, just quality matches with 97%+ topical relevance so every backlink builds real authority.
Automated 24/7 Link Building
Your backlink profile grows while you sleep BlazeHive runs continuously, matching you with new relevant sites as they join the network. More matches mean more backlinks, higher rankings, and growing organic traffic, all without manual outreach, follow-ups, or agencies charging $5K/month.
First Backlink in Under 7 Days
Stop waiting months for outreach results Most users get their first quality backlink within a week of joining. No cold emails with 2% response rates, no waiting 3-6 months for agency deliverables. Just AI matches delivered daily so you can start building authority immediately.
Credit-Based Fair Exchange
Earn credits by giving, spend credits to receive Give backlinks to relevant sites and earn credits based on your domain authority. Use those credits to get backlinks from sites you need. Fair value exchange means no one gets exploited higher DA sites cost more credits, new sites get incentive pricing.
