Excel WORKDAY Function: Find Project Start and End Dates GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > MS Office

Excel WORKDAY Function: Find Project Start and End Dates

Find when a project starts or ends, use the WORKDAY function in Excel

By Ted French Ted French Writer Former Lifewire writer Ted French is a Microsoft Certified Professional who teaches and writes about spreadsheets and spreadsheet programs. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on March 11, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email MS Office Excel Word Powerpoint Outlook Microsoft Excel has several built-in WORKDAY functions that can be used for date calculations. Each function does a different job and the results differ from one function to the next. Instructions in this article apply to Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2019, Excel 2016, and Excel 2013. Google Sheets uses the WORKDAY function also, but the steps are slightly different.

Purpose of the WORKDAY Function

The WORKDAY function finds the start or end date of a project or assignment when given a set number of work days. The number of work days automatically excludes weekends and any dates that are identified as holidays. The WORKDAY function you use depends on the results you want, which may include one of the following: Find the end date for a project with a set number of work days following a given start date.Find the start date for a project with a set number of work days before a given end date.Find the due date for an invoice.Find the expected delivery date for goods or materials.

WORKDAY Function' s Syntax Layout

A function's syntax refers to the layout of the function and includes the function's name, brackets, and arguments. The syntax for the WORKDAY function is: =WORKDAY(Start_date,Days,Holidays) Start_date (required) is the start date of the chosen time period. The actual start date can be entered for this argument or the cell reference to the location of this data in the worksheet can be entered instead. Days (required) specifies the length of the project. This is an integer showing the number of days of work that will be performed on the project. For this argument, enter the number of days of work or the cell reference to the location of this data in the worksheet. To find a date that occurs after the Start_date argument, use a positive integer for Days. To find a date that occurs before the Start_date argument use a negative integer for Days. Holidays (optional) specifies one or more additional dates that are not counted as part of the total number of working days. Use the cell references to the location of the data in the worksheet for this argument.

How to Use the WORKDAY Function to Find an End Date—or Due Date

This tutorial uses the WORKDAY function to find the end date for a project that begins July 9, 2012, and finishes 82 days later. Two holidays (September 3 and October 8) that occur during this period are not counted as part of the 82 days. To avoid calculation problems that occur if dates are accidentally entered as text, use the DATE function to enter the dates in the function. See the error values section at the end of this tutorial for more information. To follow this tutorial, enter the following data into the indicated cells: D1: Start Date:
D2: Number of Days:
D3: Holiday 1:
D4: Holiday 2:
D5: End Date:
E1: =DATE(2012,7,9)
E2: 82
E3: =DATE(2012,9,3)
E4: =DATE(2012,10,8)

If the dates in cells E1, E3, and E4 don't appear as shown in the image below, format the cells to display data using the short date format.

Create the WORKDAY Function

To create the WORKDAY function: Select cell E5 to make it the active cell. This is where the results of the WORKDAY function will be displayed. Go to the Formulas tab and select Date & Time > WORKDAY to display the Function Arguments dialog box. When using the WORKDAY formula in Google Sheets, go to Insert > Function > All > WORKDAY. Or, enter =WORKDAY( in cell E5. Place the cursor in the Start_date text box, then select cell E1 in the worksheet to enter this cell reference in the dialog box. In Google Sheets, enter E1 after the first parentheses in cell E5. Place the cursor in the Days text box, the then select cell E2 to enter that cell reference. In Google Sheets, enter a comma and type E2 so that the formula looks like this: =WORKDAY(E1,E2) Place the cursor in the Holidays text box, then drag to select cells E3 and E4 to use those cell references. In Google Sheets, end the formula with a comma, then enter E3:E4. The formula looks like this: =WORKDAY(E1,E2,E3:E4) Select OK in the dialog box to complete the function. On a Mac, choose Done. In Google Sheets, press Enter. The date 11/2/2012, the end date for the project, appears in cell E5 of the worksheet. When you select cell E5, the complete function appears in the formula bar above the worksheet.

Troubleshoot WORKDAY Function Errors

If the data for the various arguments of this function aren't entered correctly, an error values appear in the cell where the WORKDAY function is located. You'll see one of these errors: #VALUE! appears in the answer cell if one of the WORKDAY arguments isn't a valid date (if the date was entered as text, for example). #NUM! appears in the answer cell if an invalid date results from adding the Start_date and Days arguments. If the Days argument isn't entered as an integer (such as 82.75 days), the number is truncated, rather than rounded up or down, to the integer portion of the number (for example, 82 days). Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire Use Excel's EOMONTH Function to Add or Subtract Months How to Subtract Dates in Excel How to Use the Google Spreadsheets AVERAGE Function How to Use the Round Function in Excel How to Use the DAY function in Excel How to Count Data in Selected Cells With Excel's COUNTIF Function How to Round Numbers Down in Excel With the ROUNDDOWN Function How to Combine the ROUND and SUM Functions in Excel Use the Excel RIGHT Function to Extract Characters Round up Numbers in Excel With the ROUNDUP Function How to Use Excel's MROUND Function How to Use the Excel TRUNC Function How to Use the Excel DATE Function How to Use Functions in Google Sheets Excel SUMIFS: Sum Only Values Meeting Multiple Criteria How to Use a Dynamic Range in Excel With COUNTIF and INDIRECT Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies