EDATE function in Excel allows you to calculate the date that is a specified number of months before or after a given date. It’s a handy tool for various financial and date-related calculations.
Syntax
EDATE(start_date, months)
Arguments
| start_date | The initial date from which you want to calculate the new date. |
| months | The number of months to add (positive value) or subtract (negative value) from the start_date. |
How to Use
You can use the EDATE function in Excel to perform various date-related calculations. Here are some examples:
|
1 |
=EDATE("2023-11-02", 3) |
This formula adds 3 months to the date “2023-11-02” and returns “2024-02-02.”
|
1 |
=EDATE("2023-11-02", -2) |
This formula subtracts 2 months from the date “2023-11-02” and returns “2023-09-02.”
|
1 |
=EDATE("2023-11-02", 12) |
This formula adds 12 months to the date “2023-11-02” and returns “2024-11-02.”
Remember to format your cells as dates to display the results properly.
Examples
Here are some more examples of how to use the EDATE function:
| Formula | Result |
| =EDATE(“2023-11-02”, 6) | 2024-05-02 |
| =EDATE(“2023-11-02”, -4) | 2023-07-02 |
Additional Information
If you need to perform more complex date calculations or deal with irregular months, you can combine the EDATE function with other date functions in Excel. Additionally, remember that Excel stores dates as serial numbers, with January 1, 1900, as 1. Therefore, negative months can take you back before that date, so be cautious when using negative values for months.