IntermediateDate & Time
Calculate invoice age with TODAY
Work out how many days old each invoice is.
TODAY
8 min25 points
TODAY
Returns the current date, updating each time the sheet recalculates.
Syntax
TODAY()
Date & Time.
Practise TODAY2 interactive exercises, free, no account needed
Need the formula for your own sheet? Use the Date Formula Generator
A worked example
=TODAY()-B2
Returns 46
Days between the invoice date and today.
Where it goes wrong
Subtracting in the wrong order gives a negative age. It also recalculates whenever the sheet opens, which is the point — but means a saved snapshot will not match.
What the exercises catch
Each of these is a wrong turn the practice exercises recognise and name. They are the misconceptions, not the answers.
- Hard-coding today's date means the ageing is wrong tomorrow. TODAY() re-evaluates every time the sheet opens, which is the whole point for a collections report.Calculate invoice age with TODAY
- The policy says MORE than 30 days, so this invoice — sitting at exactly 30 — is still current. Using >= flags it a day early. Use > instead.Flag overdue invoices with IF and TODAY
- Subtracting in this order gives a negative number, because the invoice date is in the past. Age is today minus the invoice date.Calculate invoice age with TODAY
Practise TODAY
Knowing what a function does and being able to write it from memory are different skills. These close the gap.