WORKDAY - Move a deadline by working days
Find a future or previous working date while skipping Saturday/Sunday weekends and an explicit holiday list.
By the end, you can
- Move forward or backward by working days.
- Exclude the start from a positive offset count.
- Keep holiday inputs and deadline units explicit.
Before you start: Understand DATE and NETWORKDAYS's calendar-count distinction.
In this lesson
A date result rather than a day count
WORKDAY returns the date a specified number of working days before or after a start. Operations can schedule a review three workdays after receiving a pack, or plan preparation before a delivery. Unlike NETWORKDAYS, it returns a calendar date and counts an offset from the start rather than an inclusive interval.
Syntax and arguments
=WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays])Positive days move forward; negative days move backward. The normal weekend is Saturday/Sunday.
| Argument | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
start_dateRequired | The date from which the offset starts. | B2 |
daysRequired | Working-day offset; fractional values are truncated. | C2 |
holidaysOptional | Dates excluded in addition to weekends. | $D$2 |
Schedule a three-workday review
07-Oct-2026| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Task | Start | Workday offset | Example holiday | Deadline |
| 2 | Review pack | 01-Oct-2026 | 3 | 02-Oct-2026 | 07-Oct-2026 |
| 3 | Prepare earlier | 09-Oct-2026 | -3 | 06-Oct-2026 | |
| 4 | Weekend receipt | 03-Oct-2026 | 1 | 05-Oct-2026 |
=WORKDAY(B2,C2,$D$2)After Thursday 1 October, skip the Friday holiday and weekend. Monday 5, Tuesday 6, and Wednesday 7 are the three counted workdays.
- Store the start date and the holiday as numeric Excel dates.
- Use a positive offset for a later deadline.
- Do not count the start as the first of the three offset days.
- Apply a date format to the result and check the timeline manually.
Remove the closure, go backward, or use calendar days
=WORKDAY(B2,C2)Friday 2 October counts when it is not excluded, then Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 complete the three-day offset.
=WORKDAY(B3,C3,$D$2)From 9 October, count backward through Thursday 8, Wednesday 7, and Tuesday 6.
=B2+C2Adding three ordinary days to 1 October lands on Sunday 4 October, demonstrating why the unit matters.
Weekend rules, holidays, and compatibility
- WORKDAY uses a fixed Saturday/Sunday weekend. WORKDAY.INTL is the Excel variant for custom weekend patterns.
- A negative offset schedules earlier dates. Holidays and weekends are skipped in the relevant direction; they are not extra days added independently.
- This function schedules whole working dates, not business-hour durations. A day fraction in a days argument is truncated rather than treated as working hours.
- It is available in older/current Excel. Invalid or text-misinterpreted dates can produce errors; a result beyond valid date limits is not a usable deadline.
Common mistakes and useful tips
WORKDAY and WORKDAY.INTL are not implemented in the custom engine. No matching Practice task is linked; these scheduling rules are for Microsoft Excel.
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