Calculating the first Monday of a yearly quarter in Excel can streamline scheduling and reporting tasks.
This guide will show you how to use a formula to find the first Monday of the current quarter and apply it in a practical context.
Practical Use Case
Imagine you’re managing quarterly projects, and you need to schedule the start of each quarter on the first Monday.
This ensures a consistent kickoff day for all team members.
Steps
- Open Excel File
Open the Excel file with your project data. - Enter the Formula
In the cell where you want to display the first Monday of the quarter (e.g., C2), enter the following formula:=IF(WEEKDAY(DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), 1 + 3 * INT((MONTH(TODAY()) - 1) / 3), 1)) = 2, DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), 1 + 3 * INT((MONTH(TODAY()) - 1) / 3), 1), DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), 1 + 3 * INT((MONTH(TODAY()) - 1) / 3), 1) + (8 - WEEKDAY(DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), 1 + 3 * INT((MONTH(TODAY()) - 1) / 3), 1))))
- Copy the Formula
Copy the formula down the column to apply it to other rows as needed.
Explanation of the Formula
- DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), 1 + 3 INT((MONTH(TODAY()) – 1) / 3), 1): Calculates the first day of the current quarter.
- WEEKDAY(…, 2): Returns the day of the week (Monday = 1, …, Sunday = 7).
- IF(WEEKDAY(…) = 2, … , … + (8 – WEEKDAY(…))): Adjusts the date to the first Monday if the calculated date is not already a Monday.