Prompt: get the Excel formula for a deadline in business days
Ask for a WORKDAY.INTL formula that skips weekends and your closure days, with each argument explained, and test it on dates you can check by hand.
Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini
The task
Compute a due date N business days after a start date in Excel, skipping weekends and the office's closure days.
Write an Excel formula for C2, fillable downward. A contains a real spreadsheet date; B contains a positive number of business days. Exclude the starting date, Saturdays, Sundays, and the office closure date in $H$2. Explain each argument. Synthetic fixture: A2=2026-10-09, B2=2 A3=2026-10-08, B3=1 H2=2026-10-12 Use WORKDAY.INTL.
How to use it
- Run the prompt, then type the fixture into a blank sheet and paste the formula in C2.
- Check C2 and C3 against a calendar: October 12, 2026 is Thanksgiving, so it must be skipped.
- Replace $H$2 with the range of your own closure days (for example $H$2:$H$15) and use it on your real sheet.
What you get
A single WORKDAY.INTL formula, an explanation of each argument, and the results for the two test rows.
(excerpts) =WORKDAY.INTL(A2, B2, 1, $H$2) … Weekend: Code 1 treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend. Holidays: The office closure date, which is also skipped. … Check: C2 = 2026-10-14, C3 = 2026-10-09
Where should you start with AI?
The free assessment gives you, in 4 minutes, the 3 tasks to automate first in your business.