Start date calculator: work back from a deadline

When is the last day to start a job that takes a number of working days and is due on a set date? Enter the deadline and the working days it needs. The answer counts back over your working week and your country's public holidays. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Why count back instead of forward

A plan usually starts from the date that cannot move: the launch, the filing date, the client's go-live. Counting back from it gives the day the work has to begin, and every public holiday in between pushes that day earlier. The other calculators on this site count forward: the working days calculator counts the days between two dates, and the SLA deadline calculator adds a target to a start.

The latest start on a monday.com board

Stale & SLA does this for every item on a monday.com board that has a planned date: it shows the chance of making the date, from how the board's finished items of the same age did, and the latest start that leaves the time 85% of them took, in the board's working days and holidays.

Frequently asked

Is the deadline day itself counted?

Yes. Both the start day and the deadline day are working days of the job: five working days due on a Friday start on that Monday. If the deadline falls on a weekend or a holiday, the count starts from the working day before it.

Which holidays are left out?

The public holidays of the country you choose, for every year the count crosses, including days observed on a Monday or a Friday when the holiday falls on a weekend. A holiday on a day off is not counted twice.

Can I use a Sunday to Thursday week?

Yes. Tick the working days of your week; choosing Israel sets Sunday to Thursday until you change the days yourself.

How many working days should I plan for?

Your own history is the best guide: the time 85% of similar finished jobs took, rather than the average, which one quick job pulls down. Stale & SLA shows that number for a monday.com board and the latest start for each item with a planned date.