=EOMONTH(DATE(2024,1,15),1) is expected to return February 29, 2024. EOMONTH ignores the starting day when choosing the last calendar day of the month selected by the offset. Use an offset of 0 for the source month’s last date.

Find the final calendar day of the start month or an offset month for closings and period-end dates. Use it in a named Numbers table so input cells, dates, month offsets, and results are visible to anyone auditing the workbook. Unlike generic one-line formula lists, the shared sample below records both the input values and the expected output, including leap years, backward dates, and cross-year intervals.

=EOMONTH(start-date, month-offset)

Return: A date/time value; format the result as a date for clear presentation.

There are no optional arguments and therefore no documented default value in this signature. Do not silently omit the second argument. Apple’s official EOMONTH page supplies the exact function name, argument order and return purpose (English Functions Help documentation path 15.4, accessed 2026-10-11). This date is the documentation revision being consulted, not proof the function was introduced with app version 15.4.

Create a table named Billing in Numbers and make row 1 a header row. Enter the first four columns as numeric cells, not date-like strings. In E2 enter =DATE(A2,B2,C2) and fill it down to E6. Format E:G as Date & Time so they show dates. The display order can be changed without changing the stored date.

*Columns E, F and G show expected dates, not text you should enter. The Numbers workbook must calculate them with formulas. The table uses ISO-style YYYY-MM-DD labels solely for an unambiguous illustration; local Numbers formatting may present the same dates differently.

To fill out the table after E2:E6 are calculated: enter =EDATE(E2,D2) in F2, =EOMONTH(E2,D2) in G2, =DAYS(F2,E2) in H2, and =DAYS(G2,E2) in I2; fill each result formula through row 6. All dates and day differences shown here were checked using independent calendar calculations, not run in Numbers.

1. Create the Billing table shown below, with A:D as raw numeric inputs and =DATE(A2,B2,C2) in E2 (filled to E6).
2. Enter =EOMONTH(E2,D2) in G2; fill G2:G6. Expected dates: 2024-02-29; 2024-01-31; 2026-01-31; 2026-06-30; 2025-12-31.
3. Check the leap-year row: =EOMONTH(DATE(2024,1,15),1) is expected 2024-02-29, whereas the corresponding 2025 source would end February 28.
4. To get the current month end for row 5, use =EOMONTH(E5,0) → expected 2026-06-30.
5. To find an end date five months before a start date, =EOMONTH(DATE(2010,5,15),-5) is expected 2009-12-31, matching Apple’s own style of example.
6. =DAYS(G2,E2) is expected 45; this counts calendar-day distance from January 15 to February 29, not the number of days in February.

Monthly reporting cutoff

If the reporting date is E2, set G2 to =EOMONTH(E2,0), independent of the editable term D2. When reporting a monthly close, using 0 rather than the term offset is essential. For a July 1 billing date, =EOMONTH(DATE(2026,7,1),0) is expected 2026-07-31.

Count remaining dates through month end

For row 5, =DAYS(EOMONTH(E5,0),E5) is expected 29. Because the start day is not counted as an elapsed boundary, label this “days until month end,” not “inclusive dates remaining.”

Leap-year checks for an annual reporting model

=DAY(EOMONTH(DATE(2024,2,1),0)) is expected 29 and =DAY(EOMONTH(DATE(2025,2,1),0)) is expected 28. Apple’s separate DAY reference supports extraction of the day-of-month; independent Gregorian-calendar calculation confirms these expected values. Use this to verify month length rather than hard-coding a 30- or 31-day rule.

• Wrong offset: 0 means end of the source month; 1 means end of the next month. Many close-date errors come from advancing a month unintentionally.
• EDATE substitution: EDATE(DATE(2024,1,15),1) gives the 15th of February, not the 29th. Use EOMONTH when the last day matters.
• Leap-year assumptions: February 2024 ends on the 29th, but February 2025 ends on the 28th. Never build month-end reports by blindly adding 30 days.
• Negative months: Negative offsets are supported and point to earlier months. Row 3 and row 6 intentionally go backward.
• Fractional offsets: The function page only calls the offset a number; it does not document how all fractional offsets are interpreted. Keep this guide’s offset inputs integral until Numbers-specific verification exists.
• Date parsing and output formatting: For reliable examples use DATE from numeric cells. Set G to a date display; an unformatted result might not look like the dates in this guide.
• Unexpected error or blank: Confirm G formulas point to actual dates in E and numbers in D, not the header row; test a single row before filling down.

Microsoft’s Excel date-and-time reference lists EOMONTH with the same core purpose, but Excel exposes serial dates and may have different input/error/offset edge cases. Do not infer all behaviour is identical to Numbers. Google Sheets provides comparable month-end spreadsheet workflows; verify formula arguments and locale-specific date parsing independently before copying an existing sheet.

See also Apple’s formulas and Functions Help for documentation navigation. Related site slugs such as /apple-numbers/functions/edate/ and /apple-numbers/functions/eomonth/ are proposed routes only and were not asserted to be live URLs; link publication must be checked manually.

In Numbers, cells belong to named tables, and A2 can refer to the active table’s cell A2. In a separate table, use the Numbers formula editor to select the target cell from Billing, which inserts an appropriately qualified table reference. Do not paste an Excel-only Sheet1!A2 reference into Numbers and assume it will resolve. Check Apple’s cell-reference guidance when moving formulas between tables.

Apple documents formulas using commas between arguments. When your decimal separator is a comma, Apple says to enter semicolons between arguments instead. Thus the comma-separated examples in this English guide may need adjustment for your regional settings. Date displays and typed date strings also depend on the region: building dates with DATE(2024,2,15) instead of parsing 2/15/2024 avoids much of the ambiguity. Apple’s function syntax guidance was checked on 2026-10-11.

Supported scope, stated narrowly: These function signatures and examples are documented in Apple’s English Formulas and Functions Help, documentation path 15.4. Apple’s welcome/help page describes the function browser in Numbers on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and in supported iWork experiences on iCloud.com; this does not certify identical behavior or the first-supported app version on every platform. Neither this page nor Apple’s individual function page provides a verified minimum version by platform; actual version-by-version parity is not established here. Recheck the function browser in the app/version you use.

• Apple Numbers — function documentation
• Apple EDATE
• Apple DAYS
• Apple function reference overview
• Apple’s formulas and Functions Help
• Apple’s cell-reference guidance

Verification status: Official documentation checked; example outcomes were independently reasoned or arithmetically checked where applicable. Not executed in Apple Numbers.

• No genuine Apple Numbers screenshots are included; this guide does not use mock application images.