EDATE

Returns a date a number of months away.

Syntax:

EDATE(startdate, months)

months is a number of months that are added to the startdate. The day of the month remains unchanged, unless it is more than the number of days in the new month (when it becomes the last day of that month). months may be negative.

Example:

EDATE("2008-10-15", 2)

returns 15 Dec 08.

EDATE("2008-05-31", -1)

returns 30 Apr 08. There are only 30 days in April.

Application:

An example for the EDATE function in a table is calculating due dates for recurring invoices or bills. Imagine you're a small business owner, and you send out monthly invoices to your clients. You need a way to automatically calculate the next invoice date based on the previous one.

Here's how you could use EDATE for this:

Scenario: You need to track invoice due dates for your clients. Each invoice is due one month after the previous one was issued.

The EDATE function: EDATE(start_date, months)

start_date: The initial date from which you want to calculate the new date.
months: The number of months you want to add or subtract. A positive number adds months, a negative number subtracts them.

Table Example:

Let's say you're using a table to manage your clients and their invoices.

	Client Name	Invoice Number	Previous Invoice Date	Next Invoice Due Date
	A	B	C	D
1	Alpha Solutions	#2024-001	1/15/2024	2/15/2024
2	Beta Enterprises	#2024-002	1/31/2024	2/29/2024
3	Gamma Corp	#2024-003	2/29/2024	3/29/2024
4	Delta Inc.	#2024-004	3/10/2024	4/10/2024

Explanation of Results:

For Alpha Solutions, the formula EDATE(C1, 1) takes the date 1/15/2024 and adds one month, resulting in 2/15/2024.
For Beta Enterprises, the formula EDATE(C2, 1) takes the date 1/31/2024 and adds one month. Since February doesn't have a 31st, EDATE automatically adjusts to the last day of the month, resulting in 2/29/2024 (assuming 2024 is a leap year). This is one of the key benefits of EDATE over simply adding 30 days.
For Gamma Corp, the formula takes 2/29/2024 and adds one month, resulting in 3/29/2024.
For Delta Inc., the formula takes 3/10/2024 and adds one month, resulting in 4/10/2024.