Did you know that Excel has some wonderful functions that can make your business life so much easier?  Yes it’s true, you just need the knowhow.  That’s where Insight IT can help.

We train a lot of people in many different industries. Our trainers often throw out random questions along the lines of “Do you ever have to…?”. Recently we asked a group of sales people, who attended one of our training courses, if they ever have to use a traditional calendar to find out how many working days there are in a set period of time. A resounding “YES” was the reply!

Well help really is at hand - the NETWORKDAYS function is the answer!

In this day and age, and with Excel at our fingertips, there really is no reason why we have to struggle with day to day tasks.

This fantastic Excel function will tell you how many working days there are between your chosen start and end dates, and will even take into account any holidays you specify. It knows when the weekends are (assuming Saturday and Sunday are your weekend). If Saturday and Sunday are not your weekend, then using the NETWORKDAYS.INTL function which lets you choose from a range of weekend options.

OK let’s get started – here’s how it’s done

1. Firstly, open up a blank Excel workbook and enter your chosen start date, end date and any holidays into separate cells.
2. Then in a blank cell, go to the Formulas tab, click on Date and Time, and then choose NETWORKDAYS(/.INTL).
3. For each of the arguments, click on the appropriate cell(s) in your sheet.
4. Click on OK to get your result.

If you use NETWORKDAYS.INTL you will also be asked for your Weekend Number. Use the appropriate one from this list on the left.

If you've found this useful......

Maybe you’d like to take advantage of one of our Excel courses.  Our Introductory course offers practical knowledge of its more basic features.  Or maybe you’d like to try your hand at our Intermediate or Advanced course?  You may be interested to know that we now offer short courses for businesses who find it difficult to release staff to attend a full day of training. 

Whichever Training you opt for, you will leave us feeling more than confident when handling your Excel spreadsheets - we’ll also teach you those shortcuts that can make your life a lot easier! 

Exploring this powerful tool can be beneficial to your business and can contribute to the improvement in employee efficiency. So if you are interested in our Excel courses or some of our other courses on offer, then please get in touch.  You can contact us on 01527 61451 / 08452 306 099 or fill out our contact us form and we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.