Calculate # working days between dates - Help!

Hi, I think I have the formula correct for calculating total # of working days between two dates. Here's the scenario:

Cell J3 is the date an item is received for processing
Cell L3 is the date the item is fully processed and completed
I need to calculate the # of working days the item is in the office (using date received in J3) until it is completed (using date in L3) or up to today's date if not completed yet. Here's the formula I developed for final results in cell M3. The formula seems to be working, but I'm far from an expert but need this for work on Monday.

=NETWORKDAYS(J3,IF(L3="",TODAY(),L3))-1

Problem is when I copy the formula to cells in the the same columnbelow, I get results in each of the cells that make no sense. The result is always the number 30269. I've formatted the cells in the M column as numbers. I thought that if I copied the formula down several empty rows, as I added dates to these rows the formula would calculate automatically. I don't know why the 30269 keeps showing up or how to get rid of it....yet keep the formula copied down thru several empty rows.

I hope this makes sense! I'd be so grateful for any help or insight. Thanks in advance.

Hi Clairy,

30269 is excel's equivalent of a date (excel thinks of all dates in a number string). Try formatting those cells as "Short Date." When I did, 11/14/1982 came up for 30269.

Are you planning to factor out Holidays? See my sample workbook below for how to factor out holidays and the formulas used to determine the workdays.

Hope this helps,

-LM

Thank you LM! I appreciate the quick reply!!

No worries Clairy! Glad i could help : ). Dont forget to mark this thread solved via the Thread Tools dropdown at the top of the forum.