Excel - WORKDAY Function



WORKDAY Function

The Excel WORKDAY function retrieves the serial date in the future or past, depending on the start date and the number of working days. This function excludes the weekend and other government holidays to determine the accurate working days. It is categorized under the Date and Time functions in Excel.

For example, you can deploy the WORKDAY function to identify the deadline of a specific project and evaluate the end date for resolving the incident depending on the working days.

Compatibility

This advanced Excel function is compatible with the following versions of MS Excel –

  • Excel for Microsoft 365
  • Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac
  • Excel for the web
  • Excel 2024
  • Excel 2024 for Mac
  • Excel 2021
  • Excel 2021 for Mac
  • Excel 2019
  • Excel 2016
  • Excel 2013
  • Excel 2010
  • Excel 2007

Syntax

The syntax of the WORKDAY function is as follows −

=WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays])

Arguments

You can use the following arguments with the WORKDAY function −

Argument Description Required/ Optional
Start_date A date that represents the start date. Required
Days

A number can be positive or negative of nonweekend and nonholiday days earlier or future start_date.

A positive value for days generates a future date.

A negative value generates a past date.

Required
Holidays It specifies a cell range containing the holiday's dates or an array constant of the serial numbers representing the dates. Federal and state holidays can be excluded when executing the WORKDAY function. Optional

Points to Remember

  • The Microsoft Excel tool saves dates as sequential serial numbers for further calculations. By default, serial number 1 is assigned to January 1, 1900, and serial number 39448 is assigned to January 1, 2008.
  • If the decimal value is specified in the days argument, it is truncated.
  • If the invalid date is specified in any argument, then the WORKDAY function will retrieve the #VALUE! error.
  • If the days argument contains a non-numeric value, then the WORKDAY function will retrieve the #VALUE! error.
  • If start_date plus days generate an invalid date, then the WORKDAY function will retrieve the #NUM! error.
  • You can use the WORKDAY.INTL function to customize the weekends.

Example of WORKDAY Function in Excel

In this example, we revealed the hidden concept of the WORKDAY function and inserted it into a specific cell range to learn its behavior when supplying the Start Date and Days in it.

Solution

Step 1 − Assume the sample dataset consists of three columns: Start Date, Days, and Result.

How to use the WORKDAY Function in Excel1

Step 2 − After that, you may select the cells D3 and D4 and write the expression =WORKDAY(B3,C3) in the formula bar.

How to use the WORKDAY Function in Excel2

After that, hit the "Ctrl+Enter" to display the result in both cells.

How to use the WORKDAY Function in Excel3

Therefore, The WORKDAY function returns the date serial number after the number of working days in the D3 cell and before the number of work days in the D4 cell.

Download Practice Sheet

You can download and use the sample data sheet to practice the WORKDAY function.

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