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Business Days Calculator

Count working days between two dates, or add business days to a date, skipping weekends and public holidays.

Custom days off

    Business days

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      How to use it

      1. Pick a mode: Count business days between two dates, or Add business days to find a deadline.
      2. Enter the dates. When counting, choose whether the start and end dates themselves should be counted.
      3. Choose the holiday calendar: U.S. federal holidays or UK bank holidays for England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
      4. Change the weekend if yours isn’t Saturday and Sunday, and add any custom days off, such as a company shutdown.
      5. Check the list of holidays underneath the result to see exactly which days were skipped.

      Worked examples

      Working days in January 2027 (U.S.)

      A payroll team wants the number of working days from January 1 to January 31, 2027, counting both dates, with U.S. federal holidays.

      1. January 2027 has 31 days. It starts on a Friday, so there are 10 weekend days (five Saturdays and five Sundays). That leaves 21 weekdays.
      2. Two federal holidays land on weekdays: New Year’s Day (Friday, January 1) and Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 18).
      3. Business days: 21 − 2 = 19.

      A 10-business-day deadline over the holidays

      An invoice dated Thursday, December 17, 2026 is due in 10 business days (U.S. holidays). Counting forward from the next day: Dec 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, then Christmas Day (Friday, Dec 25) is skipped, then Dec 28, 29, 30, 31; New Year’s Day (Friday, Jan 1) is skipped; the tenth business day is Monday, January 4, 2027.

      How it’s calculated

      The calculator walks through the dates one day at a time and counts a day as a business day only if it is:

      • not a weekend day (based on your weekend setting),
      • not a public holiday in the chosen calendar, and
      • not one of your custom days off.

      U.S. federal holidays are worked out for any year: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (3rd Monday of January), Washington’s Birthday (3rd Monday of February), Memorial Day (last Monday of May), Juneteenth (June 19, since 2021), Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day (1st Monday of September), Columbus Day (2nd Monday of October), Veterans Day (November 11), Thanksgiving (4th Thursday of November) and Christmas Day. When a fixed-date holiday falls on a Saturday it’s observed on the Friday before; on a Sunday, the Monday after.

      UK bank holidays are worked out for each nation. Easter is calculated with the standard Gregorian Easter formula, giving Good Friday and (outside Scotland) Easter Monday. Scotland adds 2 January, St Andrew’s Day and an early-August summer holiday. Northern Ireland adds St Patrick’s Day and 12 July. When a holiday falls at a weekend, a substitute weekday is given, usually the following Monday.

      When adding business days, the count starts from the day after the start date, so adding 1 business day to a Friday gives the following Monday.

      Frequently asked questions

      What counts as a business day?
      Usually Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. Banks, courts and government offices use this definition. Some businesses and countries have different working weeks, which is why you can change the weekend setting.
      Should I include the start date?
      It depends on the question. For “how many working days are in this month?”, include both dates. For deadlines such as “within 5 business days of the 3rd”, the start day usually isn’t counted, which is how the Add business days mode works.
      What happens when a holiday falls on a weekend?
      In the U.S., a federal holiday on Saturday is observed on Friday and one on Sunday is observed on Monday. In the UK, a substitute bank holiday is given on the next weekday, usually Monday. The calculator applies these rules automatically and labels the observed or substitute day.
      Are state holidays or bank closures included?
      No. The U.S. option uses federal holidays only. Many state and local holidays differ, so add them as custom days off if they matter for your count.
      How many business days are in a year?
      In the U.S. there are usually 260 or 261 weekdays in a year, minus 11 federal holidays, giving about 250. Use the calculator with January 1 to December 31 to get the exact figure for any year.