How to Get the First Day of a Month
There are many ways to get the first day of a month. Though there are various methods to find it, we can also make use of the EOMONTH function to get the first day. The various techniques are:
Get the 1st day of the month by the Month Number
We can make use of the DATE function to find out the first day of the given month number.
Formula:
= DATE(year, month number, 1)
We have to feed the current year, month number, etc. on our own in this case.
Example:
Finding first date of the month in which the given date lies
Get the 1st day of the Month from a Date
If we want to calculate the first date in relation to the month provided in a specific date then we can employ both DATE and MONTH functions to do so.
Formula:
=DATE(year, MONTH(cell with the date), 1)
The formula will return the first day of the month based on the date fed to the MONTH function, be it referenced from a cell or a direct date code.
Example:
Finding first day of the month in which the dates in the mentioned cells lie
Find the First Day of the Month Based on the Current Date
When we are required to work with the current date and cannot specify the required month or year, then we can make use of the EOMONTH and TODAY functions.
Formula:
= EOMONTH(TODAY(), 0) + 1 extracts the first day of the next month
= EOMONTH(TODAY(), -2) + 1 extracts the first day of the previous month
= EOMONTH(TODAY(), -1) + 1 extracts the first day of the current month
Example:
Finding the first date of the current month using the EOMONTH function
The same task can also be performed using MONTH, DATE, TODAY, and YEAR functions. One can use the YEAR function to extract the year and MONTH to extract the month from the current date and feed it to the DATE function, with 1 set as the day.
In order to obtain the first dates of previous or next months one can just subtract or add 1 to the month number returned by the MONTH function.
Formula:
= DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), MONTH(TODAY()), 1) returns the first date of the current month
= DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), MONTH(TODAY()) + 1, 1) returns the first date of the following month
= DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), MONTH(TODAY()) – 1, 1) returns the first date of the previous month
Example:
Finding the first date of the current month using DATE, YEAR, and MONTH functions
Calculating the Number of Days in a Month
Excel doesn’t specifically provide a function to calculate the number of days in a given month. But there do exist a variety of functions that work with dates and times that we can employ for this purpose.
Get the Number of Days Based on the Month Number
If the month number and year are known, then we can use a combination of DAY and DATE formulae to get the number of days in that month.
Formula:
= DAY(DATE(year, month_number + 1, 1) -1)
How this formula works is, that the DATE function will return the first day of the following month, from which when 1 is subtracted, we get the last date of the month wanted. The DAY function will convert the date to a number.
Example:
Finding the number of Days in the required month by finding last date of the month
To Get the Number of Days in a Month Based on Date
If the month number is not known, but we do know any date within that month, then the YEAR and MONTH functions can be used to extract the year and month number from the date. Then we just need to input these into the DAY/DATE formula and the no. of days will be calculated.
Formula:
= DAY(DATE(YEAR(A13), MONTH(A13) + 1, 1) -1)
Alternatively, the EOMONTH formula can be used to just return the last day of the month, which is further converted to the number of days by extracting the day.
Formula:
= DAY(EOMONTH(A1, 0))
Example:
Finding the Number of Days using YEAR, MONTH, and EOMONTH functions
Using MONTH and EOMONTH functions in Excel
In this easy-to-follow guide, we’ll explore the Excel MONTH and EOMONTH functions. These functions are super handy for working with dates. We’ll show you how to use them to figure out which month a date belongs to, get the first and last day of a month, and more. Whether you’re new to Excel or an experienced user, this tutorial will help you become a pro at handling dates in your spreadsheets. By the end, you’ll be able to breeze through date-related tasks and make your Excel work even smoother. So, let’s dive in and master these functions together!
MONTH and EOMONTH are built-in functions in Excel that assist users in performing date-based operations, particularly those tied to months. Let’s delve into each function and see how they can be useful: