Formulas - 2026-05-12

Excel Date Formulas: Complete Guide

Learn Excel date formulas for today, due dates, month ends, working days, age, days between dates, and common date problems.

How Excel Dates Work

  • Excel stores dates as serial numbers. Formatting makes those numbers appear as dates. This is why real dates can be used in calculations. Useful date functions: TODAY DATE EOMONTH DATEDIF NETWORKDAYS WORKDAY YEAR MONTH

Today's Date

  • \\\ =TODAY() \\\ TODAY updates automatically each day.

Days Between Dates

  • \\\ =B2-A2 \\\ If A2 is the start date and B2 is the end date, Excel returns the number of days.

Month End Date

  • \\\ =EOMONTH(A2,0) \\\ Use EOMONTH for billing cycles, month-end reporting, and due dates.

Working Days Between Dates

  • \\\ =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2) \\\ This counts weekdays and excludes weekends.

Related Guides

  • TODAY function DATEDIF function Calculate Age in Excel Excel Date Functions Guide

Date Formula Patterns

  • Need Formula Today's date =TODAY() Days between dates =EndDate-StartDate End of month =EOMONTH(A2,0) Add workdays =WORKDAY(A2,10) Count workdays =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2) Age in years =DATEDIF(A2,TODAY(),"Y")

Expert Date Troubleshooting

  • If date formulas fail, first confirm the values are real dates. Change the format to General; real dates become serial numbers. Text dates remain text-like values. For imported data, use Text to Columns or Power Query to convert date text before building reports.

Related Guides

  • Use Calculate Age in Excel, Text to Columns, TODAY, DATEDIF, and YEARFRAC for deeper examples.

Frequently asked questions

  • Why are Excel dates showing as numbers? Excel stores dates as serial numbers. Apply a date format to display the number as a date.
  • How do I calculate days between two dates in Excel? Subtract the start date from the end date, such as =B2-A2.
  • How can I test if a date is real in Excel? Apply General format. A real date displays as a serial number. A text date usually does not behave like a number.
  • What formula finds the last day of a month? Use EOMONTH(date,0) to return the last day of the date's month.