WORKDAY.INTL in PlanMaker: Custom Weekends and Deadlines

WORKDAY.INTL adds or subtracts a specified number of working days from a start date and returns the resulting date value. The normal rule omits Saturdays and Sundays. Unlike PlanMaker WORKDAY, the .INTL version lets you designate Friday–Saturday, Sunday–Monday, one day per week, or a custom seven-day weekend mask. You may also exclude an explicitly listed set of holidays. PlanMaker does not automatically know an employer’s observed holidays. The vendor reference documents the function and weekend options.

It is suitable for delivery commitments, customer-service response dates and cross-region schedules. It is not a calculator of hours worked or elapsed days, and it does not itself implement regional bank holidays.

SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026 prints this syntax (square brackets mean optional, do not enter the brackets):

WORKDAY.INTL(StartDate; Days [; Weekend] [; Holidays])

Syntax-versus-example separator warning: The online 2026 documentation prints semicolons in the syntax signature, but several worked examples use commas and one example mixes the two. Formulas in this guide use comma separators for consistency with those examples. If PlanMaker rejects a pasted formula, use the argument separator configured for your locale and adjust separators throughout; use the function insertion dialog as a reliable guide. Region-specific day/month interpretation and translated function names can also differ. Prefer DATE(2024,6,7) over text such as "6/7/2024". See SoftMaker’s localized-function guidance.

The 2026 online page does not document how PlanMaker handles a noninteger Days, a zero offset on a weekend, a holiday entered as text, invalid weekend codes, or exact error messages. Do not infer these outcomes from Excel; they require native testing.

Seven-character masks go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (not Sunday-first). 0 is a workday and 1 is a nonworking day. A mask must be supplied as text: "0000011" = Saturday/Sunday, "0000110" = Friday/Saturday, "0000000" = no recurring days off and "1000000" = Monday only. The official reference explicitly lists the general seven-character rule and permitted code numbers; these specific mask interpretations follow directly from it. The all-ones mask is not tested in PlanMaker (Excel separately documents its restrictions).

Set up this small sheet. Formulas below use expected dates calculated independently; they were not observed in PlanMaker.

Format A2, D2, D3 and E2 as dates. If they appear as serial numbers, change the cell display format, not the underlying formula. On a Friday/Saturday schedule, Sunday June 9 is eligible even though it falls on the traditional North American weekend; on Saturday/Sunday, the next eligible date is Monday June 10.

More worked formulas, with expected dates

Scope of validation: First three October 2022 outcomes correspond to the 2026 vendor example; the remaining dates are independent expected calculations, not native application results. Date formatting and time-of-day retention require runtime checks.

Put a start date =DATE(2024,6,14) in A2, number 5 in B2, default code 1 in C2, and an explicit illustrative excluded date =DATE(2024,6,19) in H2 (this is not a claim about which jurisdictions observe that holiday). Then enter in D2:

=WORKDAY.INTL(A2,B2,C2,$H$2:$H$2)

Expected result: Monday, June 24, 2024. Without a holiday argument, =WORKDAY.INTL(A2,B2,C2) is expected to return Friday, June 21, 2024. Adding the excluded Wednesday pushes the fifth eligible working day to the following Monday. For many orders, populate A2:C50, keep holidays in H2:H20, and fill down =WORKDAY.INTL(A2,B2,C2,$H$2:$H$20). The dollar signs keep the holiday range fixed as the formula is copied.

Critical difference from ordinary arithmetic: A2+5 advances five calendar days (June 19), not five eligible working days; NETWORKDAYS.INTL counts eligible dates between two endpoints rather than calculating a future deadline. If you need to count across a custom weekend, use the official NETWORKDAYS.INTL reference.

Native edge cases not checked: zero offsets, fractional offsets, invalid dates/strings, one or more duplicates in holiday ranges, an all-ones weekend mask, date-system boundaries, and opening/resaving in Excel format. Do not advertise specific PlanMaker errors for these until tested.

• PlanMaker 2026 (English manual): The official current page documents the four-argument order, weekend codes/masks and optional holidays. This is documentation verification for the PlanMaker 2026/NX desktop-family reference, not native execution on Windows, macOS or Linux. Feature parity across products/editions remains untested.
• PlanMaker 2024/2021: Their corresponding online function pages could not be independently retrieved during this review. Do not infer the functions were added in 2026 or claim edition-specific availability. Before labeling an older version supported, verify its official manual and (ideally) test it.
• Microsoft Excel: The Excel WORKDAY.INTL reference independently documents the same weekend codes, masks and argument meanings. Excel-specific, not PlanMaker-verified, behavior includes truncating fractional offsets, invalid weekend mask errors and a rejected all-ones weekend string. Do not claim identical error messages, workbook round-trip behavior, or all locale rules without conversion tests.

Related official documentation: WORKDAY for a fixed Saturday/Sunday schedule; NETWORKDAYS for counting; NETWORKDAYS.INTL for adjustable-weekend counts. These links open vendor documentation.

• SoftMaker, PlanMaker 2026 — WORKDAY.INTL (date after x workdays); accessed 2026-10-12; exact syntax, direction, weekend code list, Monday-first mask, optional holidays, October 2022 examples.
• SoftMaker, PlanMaker 2026 — WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS.INTL; accessed 2026-10-12; related-function roles.
• SoftMaker, PlanMaker localization advice — Localized function names; accessed 2026-10-12; function-name translations in non-English interfaces.
• Microsoft, Excel WORKDAY.INTL — Excel documentation; accessed 2026-10-12; Excel-specific defaults, error behavior and compatibility comparison.

Verification status: Official PlanMaker documentation checked; examples independently reasoned and calendar-calculated. Not executed in SoftMaker PlanMaker. No genuine PlanMaker screenshots were captured or simulated.