=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(start_date; end_date; [weekend]; [hol_range])

Result: An integer business-day count for the inclusive specified date span. Weekend codes are numeric, not weekday positions; code 11 means Sunday-only, not the eleventh day. A custom weekend is not automatically a locale-specific public-holiday list.

Zoho-documented numeric weekend values

Zoho documents code 1 as the default when weekend is omitted. Values not in this table have not been established for Zoho by the reference.

Create a sheet named BusinessCalendar. Enter the table into columns A:F, beginning at row 1. Values in B and C must be actual date cells; set the date format, or type =DATE(2026;10;5) rather than relying on CSV date detection. D and E are integers. The optional downloadable CSV contains the same source values but does not prove that Zoho Sheet recognized the dates on import.

Enter these fictional business-closure dates as real dates in H2:H5. They are teaching data, not an authoritative public-holiday list or a claim that every employer observes them.

When filling formulas down, lock the holiday range as $H$2:$H$5. Enter semicolon-separated formulas as published in Zoho’s web reference; another environment or regional setting may present a different separator. Expected dates below use YYYY-MM-DD to avoid formatting ambiguity. All expected values were calculated with an independent Python date-iteration model, not executed in Zoho Sheet.

1. Put Custom-calendar workdays in I1. In I2, enter =NETWORKDAYS.INTL(B2;C2;E2;$H$2:$H$5).
2. B2:C2 run from October 5 to October 16; E2 = 1. With the normal Saturday/Sunday weekend and two mid-week closure dates, I2 should be 8 according to independent arithmetic.
3. Fill through I9. For row 3, E3 = 7, so Friday and Saturday are excluded rather than Saturday and Sunday. October 6, 8, 11 and 13 qualify; the sample closures on October 7 and 12 do not, giving 4.
4. As a controlled comparison, =NETWORKDAYS.INTL(B3;C3;1;$H$2:$H$5) also gives 4 for this particular span. Equal totals here are a coincidence of the selected dates, not proof the weekend patterns are interchangeable.
5. Omitting E2 defaults to code 1, according to Zoho. Supplying the fourth hol_range argument while intentionally skipping the third argument is not documented in the linked reference; provide the weekend code explicitly when using holidays.

Expected results for all practice rows (independent model, NOT Zoho execution):

Advanced application: a six-day service team

Row 4 uses E4 = 11, meaning only Sunday is a weekend. =NETWORKDAYS.INTL(B4;C4;11;$H$2:$H$5) independently counts 9 workdays from October 9 through 21; the standard weekend model counts 8. Use a typed numeric code in a protected input cell to avoid accidental changes to the business calendar.

Advanced application: selected closures across teams

Let F2:F9 describe the team and E2:E9 store the team’s documented weekend number; =NETWORKDAYS.INTL(B2;C2;E2;$H$2:$H$5) can be filled down without modifying the formula for each team. Record that the holiday range is shared across teams: an employer with region-specific closures needs an appropriately scoped list rather than a single universal holiday range.

• Numeric codes are the demonstrated Zoho feature: Zoho lists 1–7 and 11–17. Excel additionally documents seven-character strings such as "0000011" for weekend patterns. Zoho’s linked reference does not establish string-code support; do not describe it as a verified Zoho feature.
• Official help discrepancy: Zoho’s example table repeats exactly =NETWORKDAYS.INTL("1/1/2020";"12/31/2020";11) but lists 314 and 260 on different rows. These cannot both be the result of identical inputs. The guide follows the documented weekend definition for independent calculations; actual Zoho results were not tested.
• Closures that coincide with the custom weekend: H4 (a Saturday) is a weekend for code 7 or 17, but could be a workday for code 11. Holiday exclusion therefore depends on the chosen code; it should not be mechanically subtracted twice in the independent model.
• Invalid weekend inputs: Code 8 is not among Zoho’s documented codes. Do not invent its Zoho error message. If an error occurs, correct E2:E9 to an officially listed code.
• Type and reference problems: Treat #VALUE!, #REF! and #NAME! as general troubleshooting indications documented in Zoho help, not reproduced native results for invalid custom weekends.

• Microsoft Excel documents a comma-separated syntax for the corresponding function. Zoho’s linked web-help reference uses semicolons. Copying an Excel formula unchanged may therefore need argument-separator changes, depending on the Zoho environment and file mode. See the Microsoft references below for the cross-software comparison; do not infer that formulas are universally interchangeable.
• Zoho’s current help pages establish these functions for the current documentation scope. They do not give a first-supported version, a complete historical compatibility matrix, or a guarantee that every cloud, desktop-beta, mobile, or offline workflow works identically. The Zoho Sheet desktop beta announcement says the desktop apps initially provide a subset of web features.
• Google’s products may offer function names that look similar. This guide does not assert identical edge cases, weekend-string handling, or error codes in Google Sheets without a separate function-by-function native test.

Important compatibility difference: The Zoho reference verifies the numeric code table. Microsoft documents seven-character binary weekend strings in Excel, but this Zoho reference does not. String-code support in Zoho is not verified and must not be inferred from Excel.

• NETWORKDAYS — prepared or planned review guide, link pending verified publication.
• WORKDAY.INTL — prepared or planned review guide, link pending verified publication.
• WEEKDAY — prepared or planned review guide, link pending verified publication.
• DAYS — prepared or planned review guide, link pending verified publication.

These are editorial queue references, not confirmed live links. Publication staff should connect only URLs already published and verified.

• Zoho Sheet: NETWORKDAYS.INTL official function reference — directly checked 2026-10-11.
• Microsoft Excel: NETWORKDAYS.INTL reference — checked 2026-10-11 for differences, not evidence of Zoho behavior.
• Zoho Sheet desktop beta announcement — checked 2026-10-11 for product/platform scope; does not certify this individual formula in all desktop modes.

• Zoho Sheet — function documentation
• Zoho Sheet desktop beta announcement

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

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