About the Business Day Calculator

This tool counts the number of working days between two dates, excluding weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and optionally any public holidays you specify. It also shows the total calendar days, weeks, working hours, and elapsed seconds for the selected period.

What counts as a business day?

A business day is any weekday — Monday through Friday — that is not a public holiday. The exact definition varies by country and industry, but Monday–Friday excluding bank holidays is the most widely used standard for commercial and legal purposes.

Custom holidays

Use the custom holidays field to exclude specific dates such as national public holidays, company closure days, or regional observances. Add one date per line in YYYY-MM-DD format and the calculator will skip those days in its count.

Common uses

Contract deadlines — calculate notice periods or delivery windows in working days
Project planning — estimate realistic timelines excluding weekends
Invoice terms — work out when net-30 or net-60 payment terms fall due
HR & leave — count working days remaining in a notice period

How business day calculations are used

Business day counting is essential for contracts (30-day payment terms), employment law (notice periods), financial settlements (T+2 settlement in UK equities), legal deadlines (court filing dates), and logistics (delivery timescales). The definition of business day varies: most UK contexts exclude weekends and bank holidays; international contracts may specify which country's public holiday calendar applies.

Payment terms — "net 30 days" means 30 calendar days from invoice date; "30 business days" is significantly longer
Notice periods — employment contracts typically specify calendar days; statutory notice is measured in weeks
Settlement — UK equity trades settle T+2 (two business days after the trade date)
Legal filing — court deadlines are usually in business days; missing them has serious consequences

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a business day?

By default, a business day is any weekday (Monday–Friday) that is not a public holiday. You can customise this by deselecting weekend exclusion or choosing different holiday presets.

Are the holiday presets accurate?

The presets use the most common fixed-date holidays for each region. Floating holidays (like Thanksgiving, Easter, or holidays based on lunar calendars) may vary year to year and are not included. Use custom dates for the most accurate results.

Can I add custom holidays?

Yes — use the "Add custom holiday" option to exclude any specific dates such as company-wide closure days or regional holidays not in the standard presets.

Is there a limit on date range?

No strict limit, but very large date ranges (decades) may include estimates for future public holidays. For near-future dates, results are accurate based on the selected holiday calendar.

What counts as a business day in the UK?

A UK business day is any day that is not a weekend (Saturday or Sunday) or a bank holiday. England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have slightly different public holiday calendars. International contracts should specify which country's business day calendar applies. The FCA defines "business day" for financial services purposes.

How do I count business days in Excel?

Use the NETWORKDAYS function: =NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date) returns the number of working days inclusive. To add business days: =WORKDAY(start_date, days). Both functions accept an optional holidays range as a third argument to exclude specific dates. NETWORKDAYS.INTL allows specifying which days are weekends.