Create a quartely date range

I will demonstrate three different methods to build quarterly date ranges in this article.

The two first methods have a date in a cell each where the third method has two dates in a cell.

1. Create a quarterly date range using a clever built-in feature in Excel

Excel lets you copy formulas and data using the fill handler, a handy tool that automates your work. It is also smart enough to create number sequences.

Conveniently Excel dates are in fact numbers so the fill handler works fine with dates, as well.

Type the start and end date of the first quarterly date range in row 3. Type the second date range in row 4, see picture below.

Select cell range B3:C4. Press and hold on the black dot.

Drag to cells below as far as needed.

Excel automatically creates the following date ranges using the selected cells as a guide to determine the range and starting point.

2. Quarterly date ranges using a formula

You also have the option to build a date range using formulas. I have entered 1/1/2017 in cell B3 and the following formula in cell C3:

See picture below. The formula adds 3 months to the date in cell B3 and then subtracts 1 to get the last date for the first quarterly date range. This setup takes into account that months have 30 or 31 days.

Type this formula in cell B4:

It is almost identical to the formula in cell C3. Then copy cell C3 and paste to cell C4.

Now select cell range B4:C4 and press and hold on black dot, see picture above.

Drag to cells below as far as needed. This action copies the formulas in cell range B4:C4 and pastes them to cells below.

3. Date ranges in one cell each

The following picture shows date ranges in a cell each, to achieve that we need to build a somewhat more complicated formula. The formulas in cell A4 and A7 must be copied to cells to the right of the start cell.

Array formula in A4:

copied right as far as necessary.

Array formula in A7:

copied right as far as necessary.

Array formula in A10:

copied down as far as necessary.

Array formula in A17:

copied down as far as necessary.

4. Create a list of dates with blanks between quarters

Answer:

Formula in B3:

If you don't need the formula to be dynamic, like in a dashboard or an interactive sheet then simply follow Jarek's instructions below.

Jarek comments:

1. Create a list of 3 months in a quarter
2. Select it together with a blank cell beneath
3. Drag down

Thanks!

Explaining formula in cell B3

Step 1 - Check blank cells above

We want to know how many cells above have been populated with dates in order to calculate the next date.

$B$2:B2<>""

becomes

"Months"<> ""

and returns FALSE.

Step 2 - Sum values

The SUMPRODUCT function can't sum boolean values, we need to convert them into their numerical equivalents.

SUMPRODUCT(($B$2:B2<>"")*1)+1

becomes

SUMPRODUCT((FALSE)*1)+1

becomes

SUMPRODUCT(0)+1

becomes

0+1 and returns 1.

Step 3 - Create date

The DATE function creates an Excel date based on year, month and day.

DATE(2018, SUMPRODUCT(($B$2:B2<>"")*1)+1, 1)

becomes

DATE(2018, 1, 1)

and returns 43132.

Step 4 - Convert the Excel date to something we understand

The TEXT function can do many things, one of them is to format an Excel date.

TEXT(DATE(2018, SUMPRODUCT(($B$2:B2<>"")*1)+1, 1)-1, "M/D/YYYY")

becomes

TEXT(43132, "M/D/YYYY")

and returns 1/31/2018 in cell B3.

Step 5 - Create a blank between quarters

The IF function uses the logical expression to determine if a date or blank is to be returned.

IF(MOD(ROWS($A$1:A1), 4), TEXT(DATE(2018, SUMPRODUCT(($B$2:B2<>"")*1)+1, 1)-1, "M/D/YYYY"), "")

becomes

IF(MOD(ROWS($A$1:A1), 4), "1/31/2018", "")

The MOD function returns the remainder after a number is divided, this allows you to create a squency of values that repeats 1, 2, 3, 0, 1, 2,3, ... and so on.

IF(MOD(ROW(A1), 4), "1/31/2018", "")

becomes

IF(1, "1/31/2018", "")

and returns "1/31/2018" in cell B3.

Get Excel *.xlsx file

Create-a-list-of-dates-with-blanks-between-quarters.xlsx

5. Create a monthly date range

I will demonstrate three different techniques to build monthly date ranges, in this section. Two of these techniques are easy because they have the start and end date in a cell each.

To have two dates in the same cell makes it more complicated but I have a solution for that, as well.

5.1 Create date ranges using a built-in feature

To build a date range that begins with the first date in a month and ends with the last date in a month follow these steps:

1. Type the start date of your first date range in one cell
2. Type the end date of your first date range in the next cell
3. Repeat above steps to enter the second date range in cells below
   
4. Select all cells
5. Press and hold on black dot
   
6. Drag to cells below as far as needed

Excel dates are actually numbers, the above technique uses Excel's ability to quickly create number sequences using the selected cells as a guide to determine the size of the date ranges below.

5.2 Basic formula

Type the start date in a cell, in this case, 1/1/2017. Type the following formula in the next cell:

The formula in cell C3 calculates the last date for the month and year in cell B3. It actually calculates the first date in the next month and then subtracts with 1.

This solves the issue with some months having 30 days and some having 31 and February with 28 days in common years and 29 days in leap years.

The next date range has the first date in the next month as the start date. The formula is almost identical to the previous formula.

Formula in cell B4:

Now copy cell C3 and paste to cell C4.

The relative cell references in the formula changes accordingly, you can read more about relative and absolute cell references here:

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Copy cell range B4:C4 and paste to cells below as far as needed.

5.3 Advanced formula

The following picture shows you date ranges in a single cell each. To get that you need to build a somewhat more complicated formula.

Formula in A4:

copied right as far as necessary. The TEXT function formats the number from the DATE function as a readable text string in a format you choose. You can read more about the TEXT function here:

Recommended articles

Formula in A7:

copied right as far as necessary.

Formula in A10:

copied down as far as necessary.

Formula in A19:

copied down as far as necessary.

5.4 Get *.xlsx file

Create a monthly date range.xlsx

 

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