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DATE creates a real date from separate year, month and day numbers — the reliable way to put dates in formulas.
Syntax
=DATE(year, month, day)| Argument | What it means |
|---|---|
year |
Four-digit year. |
month |
1–12 (larger values roll into the next year). |
day |
1–31 (0 = last day of the previous month). |
Examples
Example 1
=DATE(2016, 4, 1)1-Apr-2016, start of the financial year.
Example 2
=DATE(YEAR(A2), MONTH(A2)+1, 0)Last day of A2’s month.
Example 3
=DATE(YEAR(A2)-(MONTH(A2)<4), 4, 1)Start of the Indian financial year for any date.
Related functions
YEAR · EOMONTH · EDATE · TEXT
📚 Part of the free Excel course: Beginner → Expert · Try it in the Formula Lab or ask the AI Helper.
📎 Practice files for this article
- 📗Date scenarios workbookMonth maths, financial-year start, working days with holidays — with PASS/FAIL checks and the 2 most common date mistakes.⬇ XLSX · 8 KB
Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.
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