DAYS
How many days between two dates.
Count the days between two dates
A number: how many days lie between them
Syntax
=DAYS(end, start)
| Argument | Required | What goes here |
|---|---|---|
end | Required | The later date, which goes first here. |
start | Required | The earlier date, which goes second. |
How to use DAYS
DAYS takes the later date first and the earlier one second, which is the opposite of the order they appear in a sentence and the usual reason the answer comes back negative.
Subtracting one date from another does the same thing and reads more naturally. DAYS is worth writing when the two dates come from far apart in a formula and the order needs to be obvious.
This is the whole of ageing: how long between the date on the invoice and the date the schedule is drawn up. Everything else is banding that number.
Examples
Every result below is worked out by the same evaluator that marks your answers, on the sheet shown here.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reporting date | 2026-10-31 | |||
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | Invoice | Invoice date | Terms (days) | Amount | Customer |
| 4 | INV-9001 | 2026-07-14 | 30 | 1200 | Calder Utilities |
| 5 | INV-9002 | 2026-08-29 | 30 | 640 | Brightwell Paper |
| 6 | INV-9003 | 2026-09-03 | 45 | 3100 | Meridian Freight |
| 7 | INV-9004 | 2026-09-30 | 14 | 455 | Thornbury Print |
| 8 | INV-9005 | 2026-10-12 | 30 | 2080 | Calder Utilities |
| 9 | INV-9006 | 2026-10-27 | 60 | 725 | Ashgrove Catering |
| Formula | Result |
|---|---|
=DAYS(B1,B4)From the invoice date to the reporting date. This is the age of the debt. | 109 |
=B1-B4The same answer, written as a subtraction. Most schedules are written this way. | 109 |
=DAYS(B4,B1)The arguments the wrong way round. Negative days are how you find out you did it. | -109 |
=DAYS(B1,B4)-C4Days past due rather than days old, by taking the agreed terms off the age. | 79 |
Notes
- DAYS counts calendar days, not working days.
- The result is a plain number, so it bands with IFS and totals with SUMIF like any other figure.
Related
A reference tells you what it does. A unit makes you use it.