Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Specifying Different Weekends with NETWORKDAYS.

Specifying Different Weekends with NETWORKDAYS

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 7, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

Sunil can use the NETWORKDAYS function to return the number of regular business days between two dates. The function assumes that Saturday and Sunday are not work days, but in Sunil's organization only Sunday counts as a non-work day. He wonders if there is a way to use NETWORKDAYS and specify that only Sunday should be excluded from the count returned.

You can determine this by using a formula based on the NETWORKDAYS function. Assuming that the starting date is in A1 and the ending date is in B1, the following formula examines the days between the two dates and essentially return a count of non-Sunday days in that range:

=NETWORKDAYS(A1,B1)+SUMPRODUCT(--(WEEKDAY
(ROW(INDIRECT(A1&":"&B1)))=7))

Of course, since Sundays are the only day of the week being excluded, you could simply skip the use of NETWORKDAYS and use SUMPRODUCT to figure out if the day should be counted or not:

=SUMPRODUCT(--(WEEKDAY(ROW(INDIRECT(A1&":"&B1)))>1))

If you expect that there may be holidays in the range, and that those holidays are in the named range "holidays," then you'll need to go back to using NETWORKDAYS in the formula:

=NETWORKDAYS(A1,B1,holidays)+SUMPRODUCT(--
(WEEKDAY(ROW(INDIRECT(A1&":"&B1)))=7),--
(NOT(ISNUMBER(MATCH(ROW(INDIRECT(A1&":"&B1))
,holidays,0)))))

Other variations of what constitutes the work days in a week have been covered by Chip Pearson at his site:

http://www.cpearson.com/excel/betternetworkdays.aspx

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (7093) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Specifying Different Weekends with NETWORKDAYS.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Getting a Warning for Markup

Many people, when collaborating on a document with others, use the Track Changes feature to show the effects of their ...

Discover More

Setting Row Height

When you enter information into a row on a worksheet, Excel automatically adjusts the height of the row based on what you ...

Discover More

Replacing Plain Text with a Hyperlink

Active hyperlinks can be a desired feature in some types of documents. If you want to replace multiple instances of plain ...

Discover More

Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Working with Elapsed Time

Work with times in a worksheet and you will eventually want to start working with elapsed times. Here's an explanation of ...

Discover More

Automatically Advancing by a Month

Excel allows you to perform quite a few operations using dates in your worksheet. Sometimes, however, the answer may not ...

Discover More

Unique Date Displays

Need to print an elapsed date in a strange format? It's easier to do than may appear at first glance. Here's a discussion ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is six more than 7?

2018-08-10 14:41:59

Gokul G

Sir,
The formula does not work when the start and end date are of some reference.
(Ex A1 - Start Date , B1 - End Date and I receive A1 and B1 from other cell reference, say B2 and B3). I am getting an error - #Ref!

A1=B2
B1=B3

Could you please help me out here ?


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.