Business Days Calculator

Count working days between two dates, or find the date a number of business days away, skipping weekends and holidays.

By the PunchClockCalc team · Last updated

To count business days, count the weekdays (Monday to Friday) between the two dates and subtract any holidays that fall on them. November 2026 has 21 weekdays, and Veterans Day and Thanksgiving leave 19 business days. To add business days, step forward one weekday at a time, skipping weekends and holidays.

Business days between two dates

Business days–
Calendar days–
Weekend days–
Holidays skipped–

Add or subtract business days

Date–

How do I use the business days calculator?

  1. Enter a start date and an end date to count the working days between them. Both dates are included.
  2. Choose whether to skip federal holidays. Leave the box ticked to remove U.S. federal holidays, or untick it to count every weekday.
  3. Read the business days, plus the calendar days, weekend days and any holidays that were skipped.
  4. To find a deadline, use the second box: enter a start date and a number of business days to add or subtract.

Why business days and calendar days differ

Contracts, shipping estimates, bank transfers and HR policies often say “within 5 business days” rather than 5 days. A request made on a Friday afternoon with a 3-business-day turnaround is not due on Monday but on Wednesday, because Saturday and Sunday do not count. Holidays push deadlines out further, which matters most in late November and December.

Payroll uses the same idea: the number of working days in a month changes how many hours an hourly employee is scheduled. See work hours per month for monthly totals, or work hours in a year for the yearly view.

Worked examples

Example 1: business days in November 2026

November 1–30, 2026 has 30 calendar days, 9 weekend days and 21 weekdays. Skipping Veterans Day (Wednesday, Nov 11) and Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov 26) leaves 19 business days.

Example 2: 10 business days from a date

Starting Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 10 business days later is Wednesday, November 18, 2026. The count skips two weekends and Veterans Day, so it takes 15 calendar days.

Example 3: a deadline over Thanksgiving

A “3 business days” deadline from Wednesday, November 25, 2026 skips Thanksgiving and the weekend and falls on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, 6 calendar days later.

When are U.S. federal holidays observed?

U.S. federal holidays, observed dates 2026 and 2027
Holiday2026 (observed)2027 (observed)
New Year’s DayThursday, January 1, 2026Friday, January 1, 2027
Martin Luther King Jr. DayMonday, January 19, 2026Monday, January 18, 2027
Washington’s Birthday (Presidents Day)Monday, February 16, 2026Monday, February 15, 2027
Memorial DayMonday, May 25, 2026Monday, May 31, 2027
JuneteenthFriday, June 19, 2026Friday, June 18, 2027
Independence DayFriday, July 3, 2026Monday, July 5, 2027
Labor DayMonday, September 7, 2026Monday, September 6, 2027
Columbus DayMonday, October 12, 2026Monday, October 11, 2027
Veterans DayWednesday, November 11, 2026Thursday, November 11, 2027
Thanksgiving DayThursday, November 26, 2026Thursday, November 25, 2027
Christmas DayFriday, December 25, 2026Friday, December 24, 2027

Private employers are not required to give federal holidays off, and many observe only six or seven of them. If your workplace stays open on some of these days, untick the holiday box and subtract your own days off by hand.

How is a business day deadline counted?

Adding business days does not count the start date. One business day after a Friday is the following Monday, and 5 business days after Friday, November 6, 2026, is Friday, November 13, 2026. To count backwards, choose subtract. For plain calendar days, use the date calculator.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a business day?

Monday through Friday, excluding public holidays. Saturdays and Sundays are never business days. Banks, courts, federal agencies and most carriers use this definition, though some businesses also close on days such as the day after Thanksgiving.

Are the start and end dates counted?

Yes, both are counted when they are workdays, the same as Excel's NETWORKDAYS. So Monday to Friday of one week is 5 business days. Tick Don't count the start date for deadlines measured from a notice date: Monday to Friday is then 4.

How many business days are in 2026?

2026 has 261 weekdays. Removing the 11 federal holidays on their observed dates leaves 250 business days. 2027 has 249 business days, because New Year's Day 2028 is observed on Friday, December 31, 2027.

Which holidays are skipped?

The 11 U.S. federal holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. A holiday on a Saturday is observed the Friday before, and one on a Sunday the Monday after. The same list is applied to every year, including years before some of these holidays existed.

How do I add business days in Excel?

Use =WORKDAY(start, days, holidays), which does not count the start date, like the second calculator here. To count business days between two dates, use =NETWORKDAYS(start, end, holidays).

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