DATEDIF, DAYS, EDATE and EOMONTH Excel Practice Questions with Solutions

Introduction

Excel date calculations become much more useful when you need to find the difference between dates, calculate future or previous months, or find the beginning and end of a month. In this chapter, you will practice DATEDIF, DAYS, EDATE, and EOMONTH with practical examples. These functions are commonly useful for calculating age, service duration, subscription periods, due dates, monthly reports, and billing dates. DATEDIF, DAYS, EDATE and EOMONTH Excel Practice questions with solutions to help you understand the concepts.

Question 1: Calculate the Number of Days Between Two Dates Using DAYS

Problem Statement

Find the number of days between the order date and delivery date.

Excel Data

Solution

In C2, enter:

=DAYS(B2,A2)

Copy the formula down.

Expected Output

DAYS(end_date,start_date) returns the number of days between two dates.

Question 2: Calculate Complete Years Using DATEDIF

Problem Statement

Calculate the completed years of service for each employee.

Excel Data

Solution

In D2, enter:

=DATEDIF(B2,C2,"Y")

Copy down.

Expected Output

"Y" tells DATEDIF to return completed years.

Question 3: Calculate Complete Months Using DATEDIF

Problem Statement

Calculate how many complete months have passed between the subscription start date and end date.

Excel Data

Solution

In D2, enter:

=DATEDIF(B2,C2,"M")

Copy down.

Expected Output

"M" returns completed months.

Question 4: Calculate Age Using DATEDIF

Problem Statement

Calculate each person’s completed age as of 28 September 2026.

Excel Data

Solution

In D2, enter:

=DATEDIF(B2,C2,"Y")

Copy down.

Expected Output

Question 5: Calculate Years and Remaining Months Using DATEDIF

Problem Statement

Calculate an employee’s completed years and remaining months of service.

For example:

8 years 3 months

Excel Data

Solution

In D2, enter:

=DATEDIF(B2,C2,"Y")&" years "&DATEDIF(B2,C2,"YM")&" months"

Copy down.

Expected Output

"YM" returns the remaining complete months after completed years are removed.

Question 6: Calculate a Date Six Months Later Using EDATE

Problem Statement

A customer purchases a six-month subscription. Calculate the subscription end date based on the starting date.

Excel Data

Solution

In C2, enter:

=EDATE(B2,6)

Copy down.

Expected Output

EDATE moves a date forward or backward by a specified number of months.

Question 7: Calculate a Date Three Months Earlier Using EDATE

Problem Statement

An invoice was generated on the dates below. Find the date exactly three months earlier.

Excel Data

Solution

In B2, enter:

=EDATE(A2,-3)

Copy down.

Expected Output

A negative number tells EDATE to move backward.

Question 8: Find the End of the Current Month Using EOMONTH

Problem Statement

Find the last date of the month for each given date.

Excel Data

Solution

In B2, enter:

=EOMONTH(A2,0)

Copy down.

Expected Output

The 0 means the current month.

Question 9: Find the End of the Next Month

Problem Statement

For each invoice date, find the last day of the following month.

Excel Data

Solution

In B2, enter:

=EOMONTH(A2,1)

Copy down.

Expected Output

1 tells EOMONTH to move one month forward before finding the month’s final date.

Question 10: Create a Subscription Period Using EDATE and EOMONTH

Problem Statement

A company starts monthly subscriptions on different dates. For each subscription:

1. Calculate the date six months later.
2. Find the last day of that ending month.

Excel Data

Solution

In C2, enter:

=EDATE(B2,6)

In D2, enter:

=EOMONTH(C2,0)

Copy both formulas down.

Expected Output

This combines EDATE and EOMONTH to create a practical subscription-date calculation.

Key Takeaways

• DATEDIF in excel calculates the difference between two dates in years, months, or days.
• DAYS calculates the number of days between two dates.
• EDATE moves a date forward or backward by a specified number of months.
• EOMONTH in excel returns the last date of a month.
• DATEDIF(...,"Y") returns completed years.
• DATEDIF(...,"M") returns completed months.
• DATEDIF(...,"D") returns completed days.
• DATEDIF(...,"YM") returns remaining complete months after completed years.
• EDATE(A2,6) moves six months forward.
• EDATE(A2,-3) moves three months backward.
• EOMONTH(A2,0) returns the end of the current month.
• EOMONTH(A2,1) returns the end of the following month.
• These functions are useful for age calculations, employee service periods, subscriptions, invoices, billing cycles, and monthly reports.

FAQs

1. What does DATEDIF do in Excel?

DATEDIF calculates the difference between two dates using different units such as years, months, and days.

For example:

=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"Y")

returns the number of completed years between the two dates.

2. Is DATEDIF available in Excel?

Yes. DATEDIF is supported in Excel, although it may not appear in Excel’s function autocomplete or function list in the same way as many other functions.

3. What is the difference between DATEDIF and DAYS?

DATEDIF can calculate differences in years, months, or days depending on the unit.

DAYS specifically returns the number of days between two dates.

=DAYS(B2,A2)

4. What does EDATE do?

EDATE moves a date by a specified number of months.

For example:

=EDATE(A2,6)

moves the date six months forward.

5. Can EDATE move a date backward?

Yes. Use a negative number of months.

=EDATE(A2,-3)

moves the date three months backward.

6. What does EOMONTH do?

EOMONTH returns the last date of a specified month.

=EOMONTH(A2,0)

returns the last day of the month containing the date in A2.

7. What is the difference between EDATE and EOMONTH?

EDATE returns the same day of the month after moving by a specified number of months.

EOMONTH returns the last day of the resulting month.

For example:

=EDATE(A2,1)

and

=EOMONTH(A2,1)

can return different dates.

8. How can I calculate someone’s age using DATEDIF?

If the date of birth is in A2 and the reference date is in B2:

=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"Y")

returns the completed age in years.

9. How can I calculate years and months together?

You can combine two DATEDIF calculations:

=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"Y")&" years "&DATEDIF(A2,B2,"YM")&" months"

For example, the result can be 8 years 3 months.

10. Why is EOMONTH useful in Excel reports?

EOMONTH is useful when you need monthly closing dates, billing periods, subscription end dates, monthly reports, or financial period calculations without manually determining whether a month has 28, 29, 30, or 31 days.

Written by Shubhranshu Shekhar, who has trained 20000+ students in coding.

Rishabh Kumar