Business days to payment (NETWORKDAYS)
The problem
Problem statement
Finance measures the payment window in working days, not calendar days — weekends do not count against the customer. Sent and paid dates for INV-701 are in B2 and C2. Put the working-day count in the Business days cell D2.
Weekends must be excluded; both the send date and the paid date count as working days when they fall on a weekday.
Problem data
Show the sheet as a table (selectable, copyable)
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Invoice | Sent | Paid | Business days |
| 2 | INV-701 | 2026-01-05 | 2026-01-16 | |
| 3 | INV-702 | 2026-02-02 | 2026-02-09 | |
| 4 | INV-703 | 2026-03-02 | 2026-03-02 |
Notes
NETWORKDAYS(start, end) counts both end points and skips Saturday and Sunday. A plain subtraction (C2-B2) gives calendar days and overstates every window that spans a weekend. Pass a holiday range as the third argument when your company closes on fixed dates.
How to approach
Your answer goes in D2. On submit we re-run your formula against 3 different sets of input, so a hardcoded number will fail — the formula has to follow the cells.
- Target cell is D2
- NETWORKDAYS takes a start and an end date
- Both end points are included
- Shape: =NETWORKDAYS(?, ?)
Official solutions
Show 1 solution — try it yourself first
Approach 1: NETWORKDAYS across the window
=NETWORKDAYS(B2, C2)
2026-01-05 is a Monday and 2026-01-16 a Friday, so the window holds two full working weeks: 10 days. Calendar subtraction would say 11 because it counts the weekend.
FAQ
How do I count working days between two dates?
=NETWORKDAYS(start, end). It skips Saturdays and Sundays and includes both end points, so a same-day window returns 1.
Why does my day count differ by two?
You are counting calendar days. Every full weekend inside the window adds two days that NETWORKDAYS excludes.