How the business days calculator counts
A business day is a weekday, Monday to Friday, that is not a public holiday. The calculator checks every date in your range and counts it only if it passes the rules you set:
- Start and end date: both are counted by default. Untick “Include start” to count only the days after a date, which is how most deadlines such as “within 10 business days of receipt” are counted.
- Weekends: Saturdays and Sundays are skipped in every region in the list.
- Public holidays: the holidays of the region you pick are skipped when they fall on a weekday.
- Observed days off: when a holiday falls on a weekend, the weekday that replaces it is skipped instead. Independence Day 2026 is a Saturday, so the federal day off is Friday, July 3, 2026.
- Custom days off: add company shutdowns, state holidays or vacation days and they are removed too.
The result lists the weekend days and holidays that were removed, with a month calendar that marks each one. You can copy it, share a link or download a CSV file. The optional AI summary explains the result but never changes the count.
US federal holidays vs. Federal Reserve bank holidays
The US has three calendars in the region list, and they do not always agree:
- United States (federal) follows the OPM federal holiday rules: a holiday on a Saturday is observed on the Friday before, and a holiday on a Sunday on the Monday after.
- US banks (Federal Reserve) follows the Federal Reserve holiday schedule: a Sunday holiday moves to Monday, but a Saturday holiday is not moved, so the Fed and most banks are open on the Friday before.
- US stock market (NYSE) uses the NYSE holiday calendar, which includes Good Friday and does not close for Columbus Day or Veterans Day.
The difference matters in 2027. Juneteenth (June 19), Christmas (December 25) and New Year’s Day 2028 all fall on a Saturday, so federal offices are closed on Friday, June 18, Friday, December 24 and Friday, December 31, 2027, while Federal Reserve banks are open on all three days. Pick the calendar of whoever sets your deadline.
Working days between two dates: a worked example
How many working days are there from Monday, November 2 to Monday, November 30, 2026? Counting both dates, there are 19 business days under the US federal calendar:
- The range has 29 calendar days.
- Removing four weekends (8 days) leaves 21 weekdays.
- Removing Veterans Day (Wednesday, November 11) and Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 26) leaves 19.
Leave out the start date and the answer is 18. Count the same range for England and Wales, which has no bank holiday in November, and it is 21. The day after Thanksgiving is not a federal holiday, so it counts as a business day unless your employer closes; add it as a custom holiday if it does.
The general rule is: business days = weekdays in the range − holidays that fall on those weekdays. In Excel or Google Sheets, =NETWORKDAYS(start, end, holidays) does the same count and includes both dates; NETWORKDAYS.INTL lets you choose other weekend days.
Holidays covered (2025–2030)
The calculator has holiday data for every year from 2025 through 2030 for these regions:
- United States: federal holidays, Federal Reserve bank holidays and NYSE market holidays.
- United Kingdom: bank holidays for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, from gov.uk (see UK working days per year).
- Canada: federal statutory holidays, plus British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta.
- Other countries: Australia, India, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Japan, Brazil and Mexico (national holidays).
State and local holidays are not removed unless listed as a region; add them as custom days off. Ranges outside 2025–2030 show a warning, because holidays in those years are not excluded. The sources for each region and the counting rules are on how the calculator works, and the way the holiday data is built and checked is described in the methodology. For full holiday lists and opening hours, see US holidays: what’s open and closed and US federal holidays 2025–2030.
Year counts, deadlines and countdowns
Business days in a year: 2026 has 250 US business days after federal holidays. For every year from 2025 to 2030 and the UK, Canada and Australia, see how many business days in a year. Planning ahead: business days in 2027, month by month. For a single month, see working days per month; for hours, working hours in a year.
Shipping and deadline windows: what a quoted window means in calendar dates. To count forward from today by any number of business days, use business days from today; for office hours and cut-off times, see how long is a business day.
Countdowns and holidays: business days until Thanksgiving, Christmas, the end of the year and other dates, updated daily. Whether banks, mail and markets are open on a given holiday is on the holidays page, with the US bank holiday schedule, the stock market holidays and the USPS color coded calendar. Holiday by holiday: MLK Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day and Juneteenth. In Canada: statutory holidays by province and Alberta stat holidays.
Other calculators: the UK working days calculator (bank holidays for each UK nation), the Australian business days calculator (state public holidays), a Net 30 due date calculator for invoices, and business day formulas for Excel (NETWORKDAYS and WORKDAY).
Payroll and time off: list every payday with the pay period calculator, see the biweekly pay schedule and whether your year has 26 or 27 paydays, and work out accrual and balances with the PTO calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is the next business day?
The next business day is the next weekday that is not a holiday. After a Friday it is Monday, and if that Monday is a holiday it is Tuesday. Today is Thursday, October 22, 2026, and the next US business day is . For another date, enter it as the start date with an end date a week later: the first green day after the start date in the calendar is the next business day.
Does the calculator include the start and end date?
Yes, both dates are counted by default. Untick “Include start” or “Include end” to leave either one out. Excel’s NETWORKDAYS also counts both dates, so the default results match it.
Are working days the same as business days?
In most cases, yes. Both mean Monday to Friday minus public holidays. “Business days” is more common in the US and “working days” in the UK and Australia. On a shift or four-day schedule, add your extra days off as custom days off.
Is Saturday a business day?
No, not for most purposes. Banks, federal agencies and most businesses treat Saturday and Sunday as non-business days, although some banks and the USPS are open on Saturday. Read is Saturday a business day? for banks, mail, carriers and court deadlines, and what counts as a business day for the definition.
What is the difference between business days and calendar days?
Calendar days count every day, including weekends and holidays. Business days skip them. Ten calendar days is always ten days on the calendar; ten business days is usually two weeks or more. See calendar days vs. business days.
Does the calculator handle half days and early closes?
No. A half day, such as an early market close on the day after Thanksgiving, still counts as a business day. If your office is closed for the whole day, add it as a custom day off.
Popular guides
Answers to the questions people ask most about counting business days, deadlines, shipping times and holidays.