Business Days Calculator
Add or subtract working days from a date, or count the working days between two dates. Built for notice periods, delivery windows and payment terms, where weekends do not count.
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What counts as a business day
A business day, or working day, is Monday to Friday. Saturdays and Sundays are excluded. That is the definition used here and in most commercial contexts in Europe, the Americas and much of Asia.
It is not universal. Some countries run a Sunday-to-Thursday working week, and some industries treat Saturday as a half day. If your contract defines "business day" explicitly, that definition governs — and well-drafted contracts almost always do define it.
Public holidays are not subtracted
This calculator does not remove public holidays, and that is a deliberate limitation rather than an oversight. Holidays vary by country, by state or province within a country, and sometimes by industry. A tool that guessed would be wrong more often than it was right.
The practical approach is to take the figure here and then subtract the holidays that apply to you. For a ten-day window that is a quick check against a calendar; for longer periods it is worth listing them explicitly.
Where the counting convention bites
- Payment terms. "Net 30" usually means 30 calendar days, not business days — but "within 30 working days" is a materially longer period, roughly six weeks.
- Notice periods. Employment and tenancy notice is often specified in weeks or months rather than working days, and the two do not convert cleanly.
- Delivery windows. "Ships in 3–5 business days" from a Thursday means the following Tuesday to Thursday, not Sunday to Tuesday.
- Court and filing deadlines. These frequently use clear days and exclude holidays, and getting them wrong has consequences. Check the rules of the specific court.
How the arithmetic works
Adding business days is not the same as adding calendar days and skipping weekends at the end. The calculator steps forward one day at a time, counting only the days that are Monday to Friday, which is the only method that stays correct across any number of intervening weekends.
When counting between two dates, the result excludes the start date and includes the end date — the same convention as the exclusive count on our date difference calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add business days to a date?
Choose “Add business days”, enter your start date and the number of working days. The calculator steps forward one day at a time, counting only Monday to Friday.
Does this exclude public holidays?
No. Holidays differ by country and often by region, so the calculator counts only weekends. Subtract the holidays that apply to your location from the result.
Is Saturday a business day?
Not under the convention used here. Business days are Monday to Friday. Some countries and industries differ, and where a contract defines the term, that definition governs.
How many business days are in a year?
Roughly 260 to 262 before public holidays, depending on how the weekends fall. After typical public holidays most countries land somewhere between 250 and 255.
What is the difference between business days and clear days?
Clear days exclude both the first and last day of a period, so they give one or two fewer days than a straightforward count. Legal deadlines often use clear days.