Count Business Days Between Two Dates

Excel & Google Sheets

How it works

NETWORKDAYS walks from the start date to the end date and counts only Mondays through Fridays, skipping every Saturday and Sunday automatically. The count is inclusive of both endpoints when they fall on weekdays — Wednesday 1 July to Wednesday 8 July is 6 business days, not 5, so subtract 1 if you want days elapsed rather than days touched. An optional third argument takes a range of holiday dates to exclude as well: =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2,$D$2:$D$5) skips any listed holiday that falls in the window. It works identically in Excel and Google Sheets.

A2

The start date.

B2

The end date — must be on or after the start date for a positive count.

$D$2:$D$5 (optional)

A list of holiday dates to exclude, anchored with $ so it stays fixed when copied down.

When to use it

Use it to measure quote turnaround, support-ticket resolution in working days, invoice processing time, or how many working days a project phase consumed.

Common mistakes

• ✕Off-by-one surprise: same-week Monday to Friday returns 5, not 4.

  ✓NETWORKDAYS counts both endpoints. For working days *between* two dates exclusive of the start, use =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2)-1.

• ✕Typing holidays directly into the formula.

  ✓The third argument wants date values, not text like "July 3". Put holidays in cells and reference the range: =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2,$D$2:$D$5).

• ✕Start and end reversed.

  ✓NETWORKDAYS(B2,A2) with a later start returns a negative count. Keep the earlier date first, or wrap in ABS if row order varies.