The Excel NETWORKDAYS function is a Date & Time formula that calculates the number of work days between dates. The function excludes weekends by default, and can also be set in a way to exclude a number of holidays. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to use the NETWORKDAYS function to find the number of work days between dates, and also go over some tips and error handling methods.
Supported versions
- All Excel versions
NETWORKDAYS Excel Syntax
Arguments
| start_date | Start date of the period you want to get working days between. |
| end_date | End date of the period you want to get working days between. |
| [holidays] | Optional. A range of date values to be excluded aside from weekends. An array constant can be used as well. |
Examples
Work Days Between Dates - Only Excluding the Weekends
To calculate number of work days between dates and excluding only weekends, all you need to do is enter the start_date and end_date arguments in the formula. Both date values can be a string, a serial number, or a calculated date (e.g. DATE). Here is an example of how you can use the NETWORKDAYS function by excluding only weekends:
=NETWORKDAYS(43739,43799)
=NETWORKDAYS(DATE(2019,10,1),DATE(2019,11,30))
Work Days Between Dates - Excluding Weekends and Holidays
You can provide an array of dates for the [holidays] arguments to exclude specific dates along with weekends. The [holiday] argument can be a range of cells or a constant array. The NETWORKDAYS function excludes the [holiday] dates within the start_date and end_date.
=NETWORKDAYS(DATE(2019,10,1),DATE(2019,11,30),{43753,43781;43754,0})
Tips
- Use the INTL function to calculate the number of work days and weekends.
- NETWORKDAYS function ignores time value of dates.
- Excel keeps date and time values as numbers. Excel assumes that Jan 1st, 1900 is 1, and every subsequent date value is based on this. While whole numbers represent days, decimals represent time values. For example; 1/1/2018 is equal to 43101, and 12:00 is equal to 5.
Issues
- If text arguments are not valid dates, the NETWORKDAYS function returns #VALUE! error value. Use the DATE function instead to avoid this.
