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AuntieK's avatar
AuntieK
Copper Contributor
Jan 02, 2020

How many days since a stated date calculation

I have a spreadsheet that includes a column with a date. It is vital that I know how many days have elapsed from each of those dates. So I want one column with the date and the next column telling me how many days have passed. It needs to recalculate that number every day. I could have anywhere between 25 and 150 dates.

 

I've tried many, many calculations, and I cannot make it work.

 

As a side note, I sort the table each day based on the Date Received.

Recap:

 

Date ReceivedDays Since Received 
1/1/2019365 
12/15/201916 
1/1/20201 
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

6 Replies

  • Riny_van_Eekelen's avatar
    Riny_van_Eekelen
    Platinum Contributor

    AuntieK 

    As a third alternative (assuming the first date is in A2, enter this in B2 and copy the formula down as far as needed.

    =TODAY()-A2

     

    • AuntieK's avatar
      AuntieK
      Copper Contributor

      Riny_van_Eekelen 

      Heavy_Duty 

      tauqeeracma 

       

      Thank you for the responses. With each, I'm running into the problem that I have to do each calculation for each line each day. Or so it seems. I'm a novice. I want to be able to have ap permanent function so that when I enter a new item, the calculation happens without me having to do anything. And all the other numbers update as well.

      Here is Columns B, C and 😧

       

      Column BColumn CColumn D
      Control #Date Received# Days Elapsed
      12345610/25/2019 
      25938611/27/2019 
      4952311/2/2019 

       

      I have a list that is anywhere between 25 and 100 items at any given time. When something is complete, I remove it from this sheet and put in a "closed" sheet for tracking purposes. In the meantime, I want to see everyday how many days we have been in possession of a document in Column B. My dream is that I can set up Column D automatically to do the calculation. So, if I open the document today, each number would automatically adjust the day based on the day I opened the database. I would never have to do anything again. Each cell in Column D would need to function that way once I enter a new control number and date in Columns B and B.

       

      Again, I'm a novice, so the calculation might not be able to happen. I just can't physically go in on every line every day and recalculate given the number of items I have.

       

      I have mastered the drop down lists, but I am really not able to figure out the formulas or automatic calculations. And I must be doing something wrong because I did not get a number of days that lapsed using the calculations provided. 

       

      Thank you for taking the time to try to help me. I hope I'm explaining clearly enough what I'm trying to do.

       

      • Probie1's avatar
        Probie1
        Copper Contributor

        This one helped me most. And maybe remind people (like me) to ensure the target cell is in "General" and not "Date" so as not to get an actual 12/21/2024-1/3/2025=11/18/2001

    • Heavy_Duty's avatar
      Heavy_Duty
      Copper Contributor
      In the TODAY, don't subtract 1
      In the DAYS past, don't add 1

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