WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS

WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS: what Excel is actually doing

WORKDAY returns a date after a number of working days; NETWORKDAYS counts working days between dates. Both can exclude an explicit holiday range.

Read this WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS example

Start with the business need: Set a ten-working-day completion deadline. Read each argument, reference, field, or control in the example before copying it into a larger model.

=WORKDAY(B2,10,Holidays)

Evidence that your WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS result is trustworthy

Display source dates with an unambiguous format and check serial values when imported dates behave unexpectedly.

• Explain how the result supports this task: Set a ten-working-day completion deadline.
• Retain one known-result check and one boundary or exception check.
• Record the source, period, unit, and refresh assumption beside the output.

The WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS mistake to catch

Omitting local holidays makes service-level and payroll dates inaccurate.

Your desk challenge for lesson 65

Calculate a five-working-day deadline with and without a holiday and reconcile the one-day difference.

• Confirm that source values are real Excel dates.
• Choose calendar-day or working-day logic deliberately.
• Test month-end, leap-year, and blank-date scenarios.