EDATE and EOMONTH in Excel - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What does the EDATE function do in Excel?

EDATE returns the date that is a specified number of months before or after a given start date. It helps you find a date exactly months away.

beginner

How does EOMONTH differ from EDATE?

EOMONTH returns the last day of the month, a specified number of months before or after a start date. EDATE returns the exact date, not necessarily the month end.

beginner

Write the formula to find the date 3 months after January 15, 2024 using EDATE.

The formula is =EDATE("2024-01-15", 3). It returns April 15, 2024.

beginner

What will =EOMONTH("2024-01-15", 0) return?

It returns January 31, 2024, the last day of the same month as the start date.

intermediate

Why use EOMONTH when calculating due dates or billing cycles?

Because it gives the last day of a month, it helps set deadlines or billing dates that always fall at month end, even if months have different lengths.

What does =EDATE("2024-05-10", -2) return?

A May 10, 2022

B July 10, 2024

C May 8, 2024

D March 10, 2024

EDATE with -2 subtracts 2 months from May 10, 2024, resulting in March 10, 2024.

Which function returns the last day of a month?

A EOMONTH

B TODAY

C EDATE

D DATE

EOMONTH returns the last day of the month for a given date.

What does =EOMONTH("2024-02-15", 1) return?

A March 31, 2024

B February 29, 2024

C April 15, 2024

D March 15, 2024

EOMONTH with 1 moves one month forward and returns the last day of March 2024, which is March 31.

If you want to find the date 6 months after today, which formula is correct?

A =TODAY()+6

B =EOMONTH(TODAY(), 6)

C =EDATE(TODAY(), 6)

D =DATE(TODAY(), 6)

EDATE with TODAY() and 6 adds 6 months to the current date.

What happens if you use a negative number in EOMONTH?

A It returns an error

B It returns the last day of a past month

C It returns the first day of the month

D It returns the last day of a future month

Negative numbers in EOMONTH move backward in months and return the last day of a past month.

Explain how you would use EDATE and EOMONTH to calculate a payment due date that is always the last day of the month, 2 months from a given invoice date.

Think about how EOMONTH handles months and how the second argument controls the month offset.

Describe the difference in output between EDATE and EOMONTH when given the same start date and month offset.

Focus on what part of the date each function returns.