Let's say you want find out how many days a customer takes to pay a bill or how long it takes to ship a product upon receipt of an approved order. There are several ways to calculate the difference between two dates.What do you want to do?

Calculate the number of days between two dates

To do this task, use the subtraction (-) operator or the NETWORKDAYS function.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
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A
Date
6/8/2007
6/20/2007
Formula Description
=A3-A2 Days between the two dates (12)
=NETWORKDAYS(A2,A3) Weekdays between the two dates (9)

Note You can format the dates as numbers. Select the cell, and on the Home tab, in the Number group, click the arrow, and then click Number.

Function details

Calculate the number of months between two dates

To do this task, use the MONTH and YEAR functions.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
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4
A
Date
6/9/2007
9/2/2007
12/10/2008
Formula Description (Result)
=MONTH(A3)-MONTH(A2) Months occurring between two dates in the same year (3)
=(YEAR(A4)-YEAR(A3))*12+MONTH(A4)-MONTH(A3) Months occurring between two dates over a year apart (15)

Note You can format the dates as numbers. Select the cell, and on the Home tab, in the Number group, click the arrow, and then click Number.

Function details

Calculate the number of years between two dates

To do this task, use the YEAR function.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
1
2
3
A
Date
6/9/2007
6/4/2010
Formula Description (Result)
=YEAR(A3)-YEAR(A2) Years occurring between two dates (3)

Notes:

Function details