Date & Time Excel Functions

Work with dates, times, and durations

Common date tasks

  • Today's date → [TODAY](/functions/today/) and [NOW](/functions/now/)
  • Add months → [EDATE](/functions/edate/) and month-end → [EOMONTH](/functions/eomonth/)
  • Difference in days/months/years → [DATEDIF](/functions/datedif/)
  • Working days only → [NETWORKDAYS](/functions/networkdays/) and [WORKDAY](/functions/workday/)
  • Build a date from parts → [DATE](/functions/date/)

Reporting patterns

  • Aging buckets → DATEDIF or subtraction against TODAY()
  • Fiscal periods → EOMONTH on period-end dates
  • SUMIFS with date criteria → [SUMIFS examples](/blog/sumifs-excel-examples/)

Functions in this category

  • TODAY: Returns the current date. Updates automatically when the worksheet recalculates.
  • DATEDIF: Calculates the number of days, months, or years between two dates.
  • NOW: Returns the current date and time.
  • DATE: Creates a date from year, month, and day components.
  • YEAR: Returns the year of a date as a four-digit number.
  • MONTH: Returns the month of a date as a number from 1 to 12.
  • DAY: Returns the day of a date as a number from 1 to 31.
  • EOMONTH: Returns the last day of the month, a specified number of months before or after a date.
  • WEEKDAY: Returns the day of the week for a date as a number.
  • EDATE: Returns a date that is a specified number of months before or after a given date.
  • DATEVALUE: Converts a date stored as text to a serial number that Excel recognizes as a date.
  • TIMEVALUE: Converts a time stored as text to a decimal number.
  • TIME: Returns the decimal number for a particular time.
  • HOUR: Returns the hour of a time value as a number from 0 to 23.
  • MINUTE: Returns the minute of a time value as a number from 0 to 59.
  • SECOND: Returns the second of a time value as a number from 0 to 59.
  • DAYS: Returns the number of days between two dates.
  • NETWORKDAYS: Returns the number of whole working days between two dates, excluding weekends and holidays.
  • WORKDAY: Returns a date that is a specified number of working days before or after a start date.
  • WEEKNUM: Returns the week number of a specific date.
  • ISOWEEKNUM: Returns the ISO week number of the year for a given date.
  • YEARFRAC: Returns the fraction of the year represented by the number of days between two dates.
  • DAYS360: Returns the number of days between two dates based on a 360-day year.
  • NETWORKDAYS.INTL: Returns the number of whole workdays between two dates with custom weekend parameters.
  • WORKDAY.INTL: Returns the date after a specified number of workdays with custom weekend parameters.

Mastering Date & Time functions end-to-end

  • Work with dates, times, and durations — use this category page as a map before diving into individual function syntax pages.
  • Functions indexed here: TODAY, DATEDIF, NOW, DATE, YEAR, MONTH, DAY, EOMONTH, WEEKDAY, EDATE, DATEVALUE, TIMEVALUE and more.
  • Pick one function per week for your team, copy the examples into a practice workbook, and spot-check against manual math.
  • When functions in this category feed lookups or aggregates, read the related comparison and problem guides linked from function pages.
  • Small categories still matter in specialized models — document which niche functions your template depends on for auditors.
  • Confirm Excel version requirements: dynamic array and cube functions may not open in Excel 2019 even if other category members do.

Category troubleshooting patterns

  • #NAME? often means a niche function name typo or a locale mismatch — compare spelling to this English directory.
  • #VALUE! in specialized functions usually means wrong argument type — review each parameter description on the function page.
  • When results differ from documentation, verify regional settings, unit assumptions, and whether the workbook opened in compatibility mode.
  • Cross-link to fix-excel-formula-errors when multiple function types in this category fail after a bulk find-replace.

Function deep dives in this category

  • TODAY (/functions/today/): Returns the current date. Updates automatically when the worksheet recalculates. Syntax: =TODAY().
  • DATEDIF (/functions/datedif/): Calculates the number of days, months, or years between two dates. Syntax: =DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit).
  • NOW (/functions/now/): Returns the current date and time. Syntax: =NOW().
  • DATE (/functions/date/): Creates a date from year, month, and day components. Syntax: =DATE(year, month, day).
  • YEAR (/functions/year/): Returns the year of a date as a four-digit number. Syntax: =YEAR(serial_number).
  • MONTH (/functions/month/): Returns the month of a date as a number from 1 to 12. Syntax: =MONTH(serial_number).
  • DAY (/functions/day/): Returns the day of a date as a number from 1 to 31. Syntax: =DAY(serial_number).
  • EOMONTH (/functions/eomonth/): Returns the last day of the month, a specified number of months before or after a date. Syntax: =EOMONTH(start_date, months).