Author: Oscar Cronquist Article last updated on May 09, 2022

The WORKDAY function returns a date based on a start date and a given number of working days (nonweekend and nonholidays).

The start date is shown in the image above, 12 working days later is 1/17/2018.

Formula in cell B8:

=WORKDAY(C3,C4)

Excel Function Syntax

WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays])

Arguments

start_date Required.
days Required. Positive integer returns a date after the start_date (future) and negative integer returns a date before the start_date.
[holidays] Optional. A list of holiday dates.

Comments

The WORKDAY function returns

  • #VALUE! error value if start_date or [holidays] are not a valid date.
  • #NUM error if start_date plus days argument returns an invalid date.
    (Excel can't handle dates before 1/1/1900.)

Use theĀ DATE function to create a date if you happenĀ to enter the date in the function.

Example:

=WORKDAY(DATE(2018,1,1),C4)

Negative days argument and a holiday

Formula in cell B9:

=WORKDAY(C3,C4,C5)