Spreadsheet Practice

How to find the last business day of the month in Excel

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0)+1,-1,$D$2)

Go to the first day of next month and step back one working day: =WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0)+1,-1,holidays).

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B7
Works in
Every current version
Google Sheets
Same formula

See it work

The formula is already in B2, filled down to B7. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

EOMONTH(A2,0)+1 is the first day of the next month, and WORKDAY with -1 steps back to the nearest working day before it, skipping weekends and holidays. January 31, 2026 is a Saturday, so the last business day is Friday, January 30.

=WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0)+1,-1,$D$2)

Result1/30/2026 (46052)

  1. A21/14/2026

    The value in A2.

  2. EOMONTH(A2,0)1/31/2026 (46053)

    EOMONTH: Last day of the month, months away.

    • start_dateA21/14/2026
    • months0
  3. EOMONTH(A2,0)+146054

    The + operator adds.

  4. -1-1

    Makes the value negative.

  5. $D$212/31/2026

    The value in D2.

  6. WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0)+1,-1,$D$2)1/30/2026 (46052)

    WORKDAY: Date a number of workdays away.

    • start_dateEOMONTH(A2,0)+146054
    • days-1-1
    • holidays$D$212/31/2026

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0)+1,-1,$D$2). We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0)+1,-1)1/30/2026, 2/27/2026, 5/29/2026…Different resultWeekends only, when there are no holidays to skip. December 31 counts as a business day.
=EOMONTH(A2,0)-MAX(0,WEEKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0),2)-5)1/30/2026, 2/27/2026, 5/29/2026…Different resultWorks without WORKDAY: steps back 1 day from a Saturday and 2 from a Sunday. Ignores holidays.

Common mistakes

  • Starting WORKDAY from EOMONTH(A2,0) without the +1 skips the last day even when it is a weekday.
  • Holidays must be real dates. Text like "12/31/2026" in the holiday list is ignored.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Find the last business day of the month

In B2, return the last business day of the month of the date in A2, skipping the holiday in D2. Fill down to B7.

Questions

How do I get the first business day of the month?

=WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,-1),1,$D$2).

How do I get the last business day of next month?

Change the month offset: =WORKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,1)+1,-1,$D$2).

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.