Use a spreadsheet when you need to calculate workdays for many date ranges or maintain a holiday list. This guide explains the worksheet approach. For manual counting and endpoint conventions, see business days between dates.
Set up three inputs
Put the start date in A2, the end date in B2, and the applicable holidays in H2:H20. Enter real date values, not ambiguous text such as 03/04/26. Displaying dates as 2026-04-03 makes the worksheet easier to review, but formatting alone does not turn text into a date.
Standard Saturday–Sunday weekend
In Excel or Google Sheets, use =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2,H2:H20). This counts qualifying weekdays and includes both endpoints when they qualify. The holiday range excludes listed dates; it does not automatically download a national calendar.
Check a small interval first
For Monday 14 September 2026 through Friday 18 September 2026, the inclusive count is 5 with no holidays. Listing Wednesday 16 September as a holiday changes it to 4. Listing Saturday 19 September should not reduce that Monday–Friday interval. These checks help catch wrong dates, endpoints and holiday ranges before copying the formula down.
A different weekly weekend
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2,B2,"0000110",H2:H20) uses a seven-character Monday-to-Sunday mask in which 1 means a non-working day. Here Friday and Saturday are non-working days. Match the mask to the actual work schedule rather than assuming a country’s calendar applies to every employer.
Keep the counting rule visible
If you intend to exclude the start day, calculate from the next calendar day after first checking that the interval remains valid. Do not blindly subtract 1: the original start date may already be a weekend or holiday. The same caution applies to excluding the end date.
Audit the holiday list
- Use the relevant year and the employer’s observed holiday dates.
- Check regional closures and substitute days.
- Keep the range fixed with dollar signs when copying a formula, such as
$H$2:$H$20. - Test a same-day working date and a same-day weekend date.
Spreadsheet functions count dates; they do not determine statutory deadlines, payroll entitlement or business opening hours. A half-day needs a separate hours or fractional-day model. Confirm any legal or contractual counting rule with its source.
Sources and related tools
See Microsoft NETWORKDAYS documentation and Google Sheets NETWORKDAYS.INTL documentation. For elapsed calendar days rather than workdays, use the date difference calculator.