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NETWORKDAYS vs WORKDAY: counting vs projecting workdays in Excel and Sheets
Excel & Google Sheets
=NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2)Try it with your data
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Step by step
- 1Place the start date in A2 and the end date in B2 (or build a row per project).
- 2To count working days between them, enter =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2) in C2. The result is inclusive of both endpoints.
- 3To exclude public holidays, list them in a separate range (e.g. E2:E10) and use =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2,E2:E10).
- 4To project a deadline N workdays out, enter the start date in A2, the number of workdays in B2, then =WORKDAY(A2,B2) in C2.
- 5Pass the same holiday range as the third argument to WORKDAY to skip those dates too: =WORKDAY(A2,B2,E2:E10).
Tips
- NETWORKDAYS counts both the start and end date as working days by default; subtract 1 if your business convention excludes the start day.
- NETWORKDAYS.INTL and WORKDAY.INTL let you define a custom weekend pattern (e.g. Friday–Saturday) via a weekday mask string like "0000011" — useful for Middle-Eastern calendars.
- WORKDAY returns a date serial number; format the output cell as a date or wrap it in TEXT(WORKDAY(A2,B2),"YYYY-MM-DD") to display it as a string.
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Frequently asked
Does NETWORKDAYS include the start date in its count?
Yes. NETWORKDAYS(Monday, Monday) returns 1, not 0. To get exclusive counts, subtract 1 from the result.
Can WORKDAY move backwards in time?
Yes. Pass a negative number of days (e.g. =WORKDAY(A2,-5)) to go back 5 working days from the start date.
Are these functions available in older Excel versions?
Both functions require the Analysis ToolPak in Excel 2003 and earlier; they are built-in from Excel 2007 onward and always available in Google Sheets.