Business days calculator — working days between two dates
Count working days between two dates with a configurable weekend and your own holiday list, saved on this device. Shows the excluded days in full.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing you enter is sent
- Free, no account
No holidays yet — the count is weekends-only until you add some.
Choose a start and end date to count the working days between them.
How to count working days
- Enter the start and end dates. Both are included in the count when they are working days.
- Tick the days that are non-working where you are. Saturday and Sunday are pre-selected; a Friday–Saturday weekend or a single rest day are one click away.
- Add your holidays. Type a date and a name, or import a ready-made set for a year and then delete anything your organisation still works.
- Read the working-day total and the full list of days that were removed and why.
How the count is built up
The calculation runs in three passes, and the result panel shows each one so the number is auditable:
- Calendar days — every day in the inclusive range.
- Minus weekend days — whichever weekdays you flagged as non-working.
- Minus holidays — only those that fall on a day that survived the weekend pass, so a holiday on a Sunday is never subtracted twice.
That last detail is the one most spreadsheets get wrong when people subtract a holiday count by hand. It is also why the tool lists the specific holidays it removed rather than just a number.
Weekends are not Saturday and Sunday everywhere
| Region | Usual weekend |
|---|---|
| Most of Europe, the Americas, East Asia, Australia | Saturday and Sunday |
| UAE (since 2022), Israel | Friday and Saturday — with a half day on Friday in some sectors |
| Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Jordan | Friday and Saturday |
| Iran | Thursday and Friday, or Friday only |
| Nepal | Saturday only |
Set the checkboxes to match the working week that actually applies to the contract or team you are counting for, not the one your own calendar assumes.
Your holiday list stays on this device
Holidays are saved to this browser's local storage. They are never uploaded, they persist between visits, and they are reused automatically the next time you open the page. Because storage is per-browser and per-device, the list will not follow you to your phone — export it as CSV if you want a copy, and note that clearing site data removes it.
The import buttons generate holidays from their rules rather than a fixed table, so they work for any year you type in. They are a starting point, not legal advice: substitute days, regional holidays and company-specific shutdowns vary, so always review the list before relying on the count.
Where working-day counts matter
- Service level agreements — "resolved within 5 business days" needs an agreed holiday calendar.
- Payroll and leave — annual leave is normally deducted in working days, not calendar days.
- Legal deadlines — many court and tax rules count clear business days and roll a deadline forward if it lands on a holiday.
- Payment terms — banking days exclude weekends and bank holidays, which is why a transfer sent on Friday can land on Tuesday.
- Project planning — a 20-working-day task is four weeks only if no holidays fall inside it.
Counting conventions to watch
Some rules count business days from an event, excluding the day it happened; others include it. This calculator counts an inclusive range — both endpoints, when they are working days — which is the most common reading of "between these dates". If your rule excludes the start day, subtract one working day from the result, or move the start date forward by a day before counting.
Questions
Which days count as the weekend?
Saturday and Sunday by default, but every weekday has its own toggle — set Friday and Saturday for the Gulf, or Sunday only where that is the norm.
Where are my holidays stored?
In this browser only, using localStorage. They are never uploaded. Clearing site data or using a different browser starts you with an empty list, and you can export the list as CSV to keep a copy.
Are the start and end dates included?
Both endpoints are included when they are working days. That matches how SLAs and notice periods are normally written; the summary states the inclusive range explicitly.
What if a holiday falls on a weekend?
It is not double-counted. The tool subtracts weekends first and only then removes holidays that land on a remaining working day, and it lists exactly which ones were removed.