DAYS360 Formula - PK: An Excel Expert

Kicking things off, the DAYS360 formula in Excel calculates the number of days between two dates based on a 360-day year.

Purpose

The main reason to use the DAYS360 formula is to perform calculations in accounting and financial analysis where a year is considered to have 360 days.

Syntax

The syntax of the DAYS360 formula is simple and goes like this:

=DAYS360(start_date, end_date, [method])

Parameters

The DAYS360 formula takes in three parameters:

Start_date: The start date of the period.
End_date: The end date of the period.
Method (optional): A logical value that specifies whether to use the U.S. or European method.

Returns

The DAYS360 formula will return the number of days between the start_date and the end_date based on a 360-day year.

Usage notes

It’s important to know that the DAYS360 formula is handy when performing financial calculations, where a 360-day year is often used for simplicity.

Availability

The DAYS360 formula is available in all versions of Excel.

Example #1

Let’s say you want to calculate the number of days between January 1, 2023, and June 30, 2023, based on a 360-day year. You would use the DAYS360 formula like this:

=DAYS360("2023-01-01", "2023-06-30")

This formula will return the number of days between these dates based on a 360-day year.

Example #2

Suppose you have two dates in cells A2 and B2 and want to calculate the number of days between them based on a 360-day year using the U.S. method. Here’s how to do it:

=DAYS360(A2, B2, FALSE)

This formula will return the number of days between these dates according to the U.S. method.

Example #3

For our third example, let’s consider calculating the number of days between two dates using the European method:

=DAYS360("2023-01-01", "2023-12-31", TRUE)

This formula will return the number of days between these dates based on a 360-day year, using the European method.

Example #4

In our fourth example, let’s calculate the number of days between today’s date and a specific future date:

=DAYS360(TODAY(), "2023-12-31")

This formula will return the number of days between today and December 31, 2023, based on a 360-day year.

Example #5

For our final example, let’s see how the DAYS360 formula can be used to calculate the number of days between the same date in two different years:

=DAYS360("2023-01-01", "2024-01-01")

This formula will return the number of days between January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, based on a 360-day year.

Tips and tricks

One tip when using the DAYS360 formula is to always specify the method parameter to avoid confusion and ensure accuracy in calculations.

Limitations

A key limitation of the DAYS360 formula is that it assumes a 360-day year, which may not be accurate for all scenarios.

Common errors and solutions

A common error when using the DAYS360 formula is supplying non-date values. This will return a #VALUE! error. Make sure that the input values are valid dates.

Best Practices

A good practice when using the DAYS360 formula is to always validate the input dates. Also, consider whether a 360-day year is appropriate for your calculations.