WORKDAY.INTL Function¶

The WORKDAY.INTL function in Excel is used to calculate the date of a working day that is a specified number of working days before or after a start date, with the ability to specify which days of the week are considered weekends. Unlike WORKDAY, which always treats Saturday and Sunday as weekends, WORKDAY.INTL lets you define custom weekend days to accommodate different regional or business schedules. It can also exclude specified holidays from the calculation.

Syntax¶

WORKDAY.INTL(start_date, days, [weekend], [holidays])

start_date: A valid Excel date representing the starting point for the calculation.
days: The number of working days to add (positive) or subtract (negative) from start_date.
[weekend] (optional): A number or string that specifies which days of the week are weekend (non-working) days. Defaults to 1 (Saturday and Sunday). See the Weekend Values table below.
[holidays] (optional): A range of one or more dates representing non-standard workdays (e.g., public holidays) to exclude. This can be a cell range or an array of dates.

Weekend Values¶

The weekend parameter accepts either a number code or a seven-character string:

Number Codes¶

Value	Weekend Days
1	Saturday, Sunday
2	Sunday, Monday
3	Monday, Tuesday
4	Tuesday, Wednesday
5	Wednesday, Thursday
6	Thursday, Friday
7	Friday, Saturday
11	Sunday only
12	Monday only
13	Tuesday only
14	Wednesday only
15	Thursday only
16	Friday only
17	Saturday only

Seven-Character String¶

You can also pass a 7-character string of 0s and 1s, where each character represents a day of the week starting with Monday. A 1 indicates a weekend (non-working) day and a 0 indicates a working day.

Position	Day
1	Monday
2	Tuesday
3	Wednesday
4	Thursday
5	Friday
6	Saturday
7	Sunday

For example, "0000011" means Saturday and Sunday are weekends (the default), while "1000001" means Monday and Sunday are weekends.

Returns¶

The WORKDAY.INTL function returns a date that is the calculated working day, adjusted to exclude the specified weekend days and any listed holidays.

Key Features¶

Custom Weekend Definitions: Unlike WORKDAY, you can define any combination of days as weekends using number codes or a 7-character string, making it suitable for regions or industries with non-standard work weeks.
Date Projection: Useful for calculating future or past business days from a given date, helping in planning deadlines or setting completion dates across different work-week configurations.
Flexible Holiday Exclusion: Allows exclusion of non-standard workdays (e.g., public holidays) for accurate date calculations.

Example Usage¶

Example 1: Basic Usage (Default Weekends)¶

Suppose you want to calculate the date 10 working days after 01-Jan-2024 using the default Saturday–Sunday weekend.

=WORKDAY.INTL(DATE(2024, 1, 1), 10)

This formula will return 15-Jan-2024, the same result as WORKDAY since the default weekend is Saturday and Sunday.

Example 2: Friday–Saturday Weekend¶

In many Middle Eastern countries, the weekend is Friday and Saturday. To calculate 10 working days after 01-Jan-2024 with this schedule:

=WORKDAY.INTL(DATE(2024, 1, 1), 10, 7)

This formula will return 15-Jan-2024, skipping Fridays and Saturdays instead of Saturdays and Sundays.

Example 3: Sunday-Only Weekend¶

If only Sunday is a non-working day, use weekend code 11:

=WORKDAY.INTL(DATE(2024, 1, 1), 10, 11)

This formula will return 12-Jan-2024, since only Sundays are excluded from the count.

Example 4: Using a Weekend String¶

To specify that Wednesday and Sunday are the weekend days, use the 7-character string "0010001":

=WORKDAY.INTL(DATE(2024, 1, 1), 10, "0010001")

This formula will return 15-Jan-2024, skipping every Wednesday and Sunday in the calculation.

Example 5: Custom Weekend with Holidays¶

Suppose the weekend is Friday and Saturday (code 7), and 01-Jan-2024 (New Year's Day) is a public holiday:

=WORKDAY.INTL(DATE(2024, 1, 1), 10, 7, {DATE(2024, 1, 1)})

This formula will return 16-Jan-2024, adjusting for the holiday in addition to the custom weekend days.

Example 6: Using a Cell Range for Holidays¶

If holiday dates (e.g., 01-Jan-2024, 06-Jan-2024, and 13-Jan-2024) are listed in cells A1:A3, with a Sunday-only weekend:

=WORKDAY.INTL(DATE(2024, 1, 1), 10, 11, A1:A3)

This formula will account for all holidays in the range A1:A3 and adjust the result accordingly.

Example 7: Calculating with Negative Days¶

To calculate 10 working days before 15-Jan-2024 with a Friday–Saturday weekend (code 7):

=WORKDAY.INTL(DATE(2024, 1, 15), -10, 7)

This formula will return 01-Jan-2024, counting backwards and skipping Fridays and Saturdays.

Notes¶

The start_date is counted only if it falls on a working day. Otherwise, the calculation begins from the next working day.
Dates provided for the holidays parameter must be valid Excel dates.
If the resulting date is adjusted into a weekend or holiday, the function will skip over it to the nearest working day.
A weekend string of all 1s ("1111111") is invalid because it would mean every day is a weekend, leaving no working days. This will return a #VALUE! error.
Public holidays can vary depending on a region or company policy; always update the [holidays] argument as per your requirements.
The WORKDAY.INTL function is available natively in Microsoft Excel. Codcel supports WORKDAY.INTL directly with the same syntax and behavior.
Use the standard WORKDAY function if you only need the default Saturday–Sunday weekend schedule.
Related functions include NETWORKDAYS.INTL (calculates the number of working days between two dates, with custom weekends), NETWORKDAYS (same as NETWORKDAYS.INTL but with fixed Saturday–Sunday weekends), and DAYS (returns the total number of days between two dates without excluding weekends or holidays).

Use Cases¶

International Project Planning: Calculate deadline dates for projects across regions with different work-week structures (e.g., Sunday–Thursday in the Middle East, Monday–Friday in the West).
Payroll Processing: Determine pay dates or due dates for employees with non-standard work schedules, such as those who work Tuesday through Saturday.
Shift-Based Scheduling: Compute target dates for industries like healthcare or manufacturing where weekends may differ from the traditional Saturday–Sunday model.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Calculate working-day-based response or resolution deadlines for customer support or contracts, accounting for regional weekend differences.

The WORKDAY.INTL function is a versatile tool for calculating target working dates across any work-week configuration, simplifying deadline and milestone planning in a globalized environment.