How to Count Working Days Between Two Dates
Learn how to count Monday-to-Friday working days between two dates, handle inclusive dates, weekends and public holidays, and compare calendar days with workdays.
How to Count Working Days Between Two Dates
Working days usually mean the dates treated as workdays under a particular schedule. For a standard Monday-to-Friday calendar, that means excluding Saturday and Sunday.
The Working Days Calculator counts Monday through Friday between two dates. It does not automatically remove public holidays because holiday calendars vary by location and organization.
What counts as a working day?
A common general definition is:
- Monday through Friday are working days;
- Saturday and Sunday are excluded;
- public holidays may be excluded when the relevant holiday calendar is known.
Some organizations use different workweeks, rotating schedules, or weekend shifts. In those cases, a generic Monday-to-Friday count is only a starting point.
Calendar days vs working days
Calendar days include every date in a period. Working days include only dates that qualify under the selected work schedule.
A Monday-through-Sunday span has seven calendar days but normally five Monday-to-Friday working days.
Use the Date Difference Calculator when you need elapsed calendar days instead of weekdays.
How to count working days manually
For a short date range:
- List each date in the period.
- Identify the weekday for each date.
- Remove Saturday and Sunday.
- Count the remaining weekdays.
- Remove applicable holidays separately when your schedule requires it.
For longer ranges, a calculator or spreadsheet formula is usually easier to audit.
Inclusive vs exclusive date counting
A common source of disagreement is whether the start date and end date are included.
An inclusive count can include both boundary dates when they are qualifying workdays. An elapsed-day calculation may use a different convention.
Before using a result for scheduling, leave, or service planning, confirm which convention your process uses.
Worked example
Suppose the range runs from Monday, September 14 through Friday, September 18 under a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule.
Every date is a weekday, so the inclusive count is 5 working days.
If the range is extended through Sunday, September 20, Saturday and Sunday add calendar days but no working days under the same schedule. The working-day count remains 5.
How weekends affect the count
Each full Monday-to-Sunday week normally contributes five working days under a standard weekday schedule.
Partial weeks need more care. A range starting on Thursday and ending the following Tuesday crosses a weekend, so a simple elapsed-day count will not equal the workday count.
What about public holidays?
Public holidays make the calculation more context-dependent. A holiday may apply in one place or organization but not another.
For that reason, WorkTools does not automatically subtract holidays from the general calculator. If your schedule uses a holiday calendar, remove those qualifying dates separately.
Non-standard workweeks
Not every work schedule is Monday through Friday. Examples include Tuesday-to-Saturday schedules, four-day workweeks, rotating shifts, and weekend operations.
For those cases, a generic weekday counter may not match actual scheduled workdays. Use a custom work calendar when precision matters.
Working days for PTO planning
Working-day counts can help estimate how many scheduled weekdays fall inside a leave period. That is different from calculating how much PTO has accrued.
For accrual math, see How to Calculate PTO Accrual or use the PTO Calculator.
Count working days in Excel
Excel provides functions such as NETWORKDAYS for weekday-based date calculations.
A basic Monday-to-Friday inclusive count is:
=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date)
See How to Count Working Days in Excel for spreadsheet-specific examples, including holiday ranges.
That article focuses on Excel formulas; this page focuses on the general workday concept and web calculator.
Common mistakes
Confusing calendar days with working days
Weekends can make calendar-day and workday totals differ significantly.
Forgetting the inclusion rule
Two calculations can differ if one includes both endpoints and the other does not. Define the convention before comparing results.
Assuming public holidays are universal
Holiday calendars vary. Use the calendar that applies to your schedule.
Assuming everyone works Monday to Friday
A weekday calculator is not a custom shift scheduler. Use the appropriate schedule for non-standard workweeks.
FAQ
How many working days are in a week?
Under a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule, there are five working days in a full seven-day week before holidays are considered.
Are Saturday and Sunday working days?
Not in the default WorkTools calculation. They can be workdays under other schedules.
Are public holidays excluded?
Not automatically. Holiday calendars vary by location and organization.
Is a business day the same as a working day?
The terms are often used similarly, but a specific organization may define them differently. Use the definition that matches your process.
Count working days now
Enter a start date and end date in the Working Days Calculator for a Monday-to-Friday weekday count. Use the Date Difference Calculator when you need total calendar days instead.