About the Business Days Calculator
This business days calculator answers two everyday questions: how many working days are there between two dates, and what date is N business days from now? It skips weekends automatically and can also skip public holidays — US federal holidays or England & Wales bank holidays are generated for any year, and you can paste your own company closure days.
It is built for anyone working to a deadline measured in business days: shipping and delivery estimates, invoice and payment terms, legal and HR notice periods, project plans, settlement dates and SLA response times. You can also change the weekend (for example Friday–Saturday) for regions that work Sunday to Thursday.
When counting, both the start and end dates are included if they are working days — the same convention as Excel’s NETWORKDAYS function. When adding, the start date itself is not counted, matching Excel’s WORKDAY function, so “5 business days from Monday” lands on the following Monday.
How to use the business days calculator
- 1Choose whether to count days between two dates or add business days to a date.
- 2Enter the start date and either the end date or the number of business days.
- 3Pick the public holidays to skip (US, UK or none) and your weekend days.
- 4Optionally paste extra days off such as company shutdown dates.
- 5Read the business-day count or deadline date, and check the holidays table.
Formula and method
In count mode the calculator walks through every date from the start to the end date (both included) and classifies each one as a weekend day, a holiday or a working day. This is the same rule as Excel’s NETWORKDAYS: a holiday that already falls on a weekend is not subtracted twice.
In add mode it steps forward (or backward) one calendar day at a time from the day after the start date, counting only working days until it has counted the number you entered — the same as Excel’s WORKDAY. US federal holidays use their observed dates (a Saturday holiday moves to Friday, a Sunday holiday to Monday); UK bank holidays include Good Friday, Easter Monday and substitute days, but not one-off royal holidays.
- Calendar days
- All days from start to end, inclusive
- Weekend days
- Days matching the selected weekend pattern
- Holidays
- Public or custom holidays that land on a working weekday
Worked examples
Working days in Q4 2026 (US federal holidays)
From 1 October to 31 December 2026 there are 92 calendar days, of which 26 are Saturdays or Sundays. Four US federal holidays fall on weekdays — Columbus Day (12 Oct), Veterans Day (11 Nov), Thanksgiving (26 Nov) and Christmas (25 Dec) — leaving 62 working days, or 496 hours at 8 hours a day.
10 business days after 1 October 2026
Starting the count the day after Thursday 1 October, ten working days — skipping two weekends and Columbus Day on Monday 12 October — end on Friday 16 October 2026.
Weekdays only, no holidays, in March 2027
March 2027 starts on a Monday and has 31 days: four full weeks plus Monday–Wednesday of a fifth. That gives 23 weekdays and 8 weekend days when no holidays are excluded.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a business day?+
A business day is normally Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. Banks, courts and most offices use this definition, although some countries use a Sunday–Thursday working week, which you can select under weekend days.
Are the start and end dates included?+
When counting between two dates, both dates are included if they are working days, just like Excel’s NETWORKDAYS. When adding business days, the start date is not counted — 1 business day after Friday is the next Monday.
How many business days are in a year?+
A year has 260 to 262 weekdays depending on which day it starts on (most years have 260 or 261). After removing the 11 US federal holidays that is about 250 working days; in England and Wales, with 8 bank holidays, about 252–253.
Which US federal holidays are included?+
New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, on their observed weekday dates as set by 5 U.S.C. 6103.
How do I add business days in Excel?+
Use =WORKDAY(start_date, days, holidays) to get a deadline and =NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, holidays) to count working days. This calculator follows the same conventions, so results should match Excel.
What does “ships in 3–5 business days” mean?+
It means the delivery window counts only working days after the order is processed. An order placed on a Thursday with 3–5 business days will usually arrive between the following Tuesday and Thursday, later if a holiday intervenes.