Excel WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS Functions

last modified April 4, 2025

The WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS functions are essential for date calculations in Excel. They help calculate working days while excluding weekends and holidays. This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to using these functions with detailed examples. You’ll learn basic syntax, practical applications, and advanced techniques.

Function Basics

WORKDAY calculates a date after adding workdays to a start date. NETWORKDAYS counts workdays between two dates. Both exclude weekends and can optionally exclude holidays.

Function
Description
Syntax


WORKDAY
Returns date after specified workdays
=WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays])


NETWORKDAYS
Counts workdays between dates
=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays])

This table shows the core differences between the two functions. WORKDAY moves forward/backward in time, while NETWORKDAYS calculates the difference between dates.

Basic WORKDAY Example

This example shows how to calculate a due date 10 workdays from today.

Basic WORKDAY formula

=WORKDAY(TODAY(), 10)

This formula returns the date 10 workdays from today, excluding weekends. If today is Monday April 1, 2025, it returns Monday April 15 (skipping 2 weekends).

WORKDAY with Holidays

This example demonstrates WORKDAY with a custom holiday list to exclude specific dates from the calculation.

A
B


Start Date
2025-04-01


Holiday 1
2025-04-07


Holiday 2
2025-04-14


Result
=WORKDAY(B1, 10, B2:B3)

The table shows a start date and two holidays. The WORKDAY formula calculates 10 workdays from start date, excluding both weekends and the listed holidays.

WORKDAY with holidays

=WORKDAY(B1, 10, B2:B3)

This formula returns April 16, 2025 (original result was April 15, but April 14 is a holiday). The calculation skips weekends and the two specified holidays.

Basic NETWORKDAYS Example

This example counts workdays between two dates, useful for calculating project duration.

A
B


Start Date
2025-04-01


End Date
2025-04-30


Workdays
=NETWORKDAYS(B1, B2)

The table shows a date range in April 2025. The NETWORKDAYS formula calculates how many workdays exist between these dates, automatically excluding weekends.

Basic NETWORKDAYS formula

=NETWORKDAYS(B1, B2)

This formula returns 22 workdays in April 2025 (30 total days minus 8 weekend days). NETWORKDAYS includes both start and end dates in the count if they are workdays.

NETWORKDAYS with Holidays

This enhanced example shows NETWORKDAYS excluding both weekends and holidays.

A
B


Start Date
2025-04-01


End Date
2025-04-30


Holiday 1
2025-04-07


Holiday 2
2025-04-14


Workdays
=NETWORKDAYS(B1, B2, B3:B4)

The table extends the previous example with a holiday list. The NETWORKDAYS formula now excludes these dates from the workday count along with weekends.

NETWORKDAYS with holidays

=NETWORKDAYS(B1, B2, B3:B4)

This formula returns 20 workdays (original 22 minus 2 holidays). The holidays fell on weekdays (Monday April 7 and Monday April 14) and were excluded.

WORKDAY.INTL and NETWORKDAYS.INTL

These advanced versions let you customize which days are considered weekends. This example shows WORKDAY.INTL with a Tuesday-Wednesday weekend.

WORKDAY.INTL with custom weekend

=WORKDAY.INTL(“2025-04-01”, 10, “0001100”)

This formula calculates 10 workdays from April 1, 2025, treating only Tuesdays and Wednesdays as weekends. The “0001100” string defines the weekend pattern (1=weekend, 0=workday).

The WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS functions are powerful tools for business date calculations. They handle weekends automatically and can incorporate holiday schedules. The INTL versions provide flexibility for non-standard work weeks. Mastering these functions will improve your date-based calculations in Excel.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

List all Excel Formulas.