Count working days between dates with a business days calculator
Deadlines in contracts, delivery promises, notice periods, payment terms and service-level agreements are usually written in business days, not calendar days. This business days calculator counts the working days between two dates — skipping weekends and the public holidays you list — or tells you which date falls a given number of business days after (or before) a start date.
It is built for how work actually happens around the world. Choose a Saturday–Sunday weekend as in India, the US and the UK, a Friday–Saturday weekend used in several Middle Eastern countries, a single day off, or tick any days you like. Paste your company or national holiday list in almost any date format and it is remembered on your device for next time.
How to use the Business Days Calculator
- Choose “Count business days” to measure a period, or “Add business days” to find a deadline.
- Enter the start and end dates. Tick or untick “Count the start date” and “Count the end date” to match your contract’s wording.
- Pick your weekend from the list, or tap the day buttons to build a custom one.
- Paste holidays into the box, one per line — for example
2026-12-25 Christmas Dayor15 Aug 2026 Independence Day. Set whether numeric dates are DD/MM or MM/DD. - Read the result and the breakdown of calendar days, weekend days and holidays excluded, then press “Copy result”.
Business Days Calculator features
Two calculators in one
Count working days in a date range, or add and subtract business days from a date like the WORKDAY function.
Any weekend pattern
Saturday–Sunday, Friday–Saturday, Sunday only, Friday only, Saturday only or any custom combination.
Flexible holiday list
Reads 2026-12-25, 25/12/2026, 12/25/2026, 25 Dec 2026 and Dec 25, 2026, and keeps the text after the date as the holiday’s name.
No double counting
A holiday that falls on a weekend is reported separately instead of being subtracted twice.
Remembers your setup
Your weekend and holiday list are saved in your own browser so you do not have to retype them.
Clear breakdown
See calendar days, weekend days, holidays excluded and the holidays that were skipped by name.
How business days are counted
The calculator walks through every date in the range. A date is a business day if its weekday is not one of your weekend days and it is not in your holiday list. With both boxes ticked, the start and end dates are counted when they are working days — the same convention as the NETWORKDAYS function in Excel and Google Sheets. Untick one or both to count only the days strictly between the two dates.
Worked example: from Thursday 1 October to Thursday 31 December 2026 there are 92 calendar days. Twenty-six are Saturdays or Sundays, leaving 66 weekdays. Remove Gandhi Jayanti (2 October), US Thanksgiving (26 November) and Christmas Day (25 December) and you get 63 business days.
Adding business days to a date
In “Add business days” mode the start date itself is not counted, just like Excel’s WORKDAY function: 10 business days after Wednesday 7 October 2026 is Wednesday 21 October, because the two weekends in between are skipped. A negative number counts backwards, which is useful for working out the last day to send a notice or place an order.
Legal and banking rules sometimes differ — for example, whether a deadline that lands on a holiday moves to the next working day, or whether day one is the day of receipt. Always check the exact wording of your contract or regulation; this tool gives a reliable count, not legal advice.
Weekends around the world
Weekends change: the United Arab Emirates moved to a Saturday–Sunday weekend in 2022, so check current rules for the country you are working with.
| Weekend | Where it is used (examples) |
|---|---|
| Saturday and Sunday | India, United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Singapore and most of the world |
| Friday and Saturday | Several Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Egypt |
| Sunday only | Six-day working weeks, common in many shops, factories and some offices |
Tips for accurate deadlines
- Public holidays vary by state, province and even company. Paste the list your employer or bank publishes rather than relying on memory.
- For plain calendar-day gaps, use the Date Difference Calculator; to add calendar days, weeks or months, use the Date Calculator.
- Turning working days into pay? The Hours Calculator builds a weekly time card with overtime.
Business Days Calculator FAQ
How do I calculate the number of working days between two dates?
Enter both dates in the business days calculator, choose your weekend and add any holidays. The result counts every weekday in the range that is not a holiday, with the start and end dates included unless you untick them.
Are the start and end dates included?
By default, yes, which matches Excel’s NETWORKDAYS. Untick “Count the start date” or “Count the end date” if your rule says “between” the dates or “from the day after”.
How many working days are there in a year?
With a Saturday–Sunday weekend a year has 260 or 261 weekdays (262 in some leap years), before public holidays. Subtract your holidays — often 8 to 15 days, depending on the country — for the true figure.
Can I use a Friday–Saturday weekend?
Yes. Choose “Friday and Saturday” from the weekend list, or tap the day buttons to mark any combination of days as non-working.
Which holiday formats can I paste?
One date per line in formats such as 2026-12-25, 25/12/2026, 12/25/2026, 25 Dec 2026 or December 25, 2026. Anything else on the line is treated as the holiday’s name. Lines that cannot be read are listed so you can fix them.
Is my holiday list saved?
Yes, in your browser’s local storage on this device only. It is never uploaded. Use “Clear list” to remove it.