What does a calendar calculation tool establish?
Microsoft documents WORKDAY.INTL as calculating dates using a specified number of workdays, custom weekends and optional holidays. Those settings explain why an explicit calendar matters. The function does not decide which days the supplier actually works or what the contract means.
RFQ Templates is independent and is not affiliated with Microsoft. Obtain the actual supplier and contractual basis before calculating an equipment milestone. This article is not legal advice and does not turn a software default into an agreed commercial term.
Sources: Microsoft: Microsoft Support: WORKDAY.INTL function
Which RFQ fields make lead times comparable?
Separate duration from its trigger and endpoint. Dispatch, delivery, document approval and completion can be different milestones even when the same number of days is quoted.
| Calendar field | Clarification to request | Comparison control |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | Calendar days or specified working days | Keep the original quoted unit |
| Trigger | Actual agreed event and evidence | Do not start from an assumed email date |
| Counting rule | Whether the trigger day is included | Record the first counted day |
| Working week | Supplier-specific working and closed days | Do not assume Saturday and Sunday |
| Exceptions | Agreed holidays or shutdown exclusions | Retain the actual calendar reference |
| Endpoint | Dispatch, arrival or other milestone | Do not compare unlike endpoints |
What difference can a weekend make?
Illustrative example. A fictional quote starts counting after a Friday trigger called day 0. Six calendar days finish on Thursday, day 6. With only Monday to Friday treated as working days, no holidays and the same excluded trigger day, six working days finish on the following Monday, day 10.
The example supplies its assumptions expressly. It is not an actual promised delivery date or a rule for all countries and factories. A different weekend, holiday, shutdown or inclusive-start convention changes the result. Transit duration and unloading remain separate unless the actual quote includes them.
How should the comparison be approved?
Keep the quoted wording, agreed clarifications and calculation assumptions with each supplier row. Refer uncertainty to the designated commercial contact rather than silently normalizing every response to a default five-day week.
Recheck the milestone after an authorized trigger or calendar change. Preserve the prior forecast and the reason for the revision; do not rewrite it as an unchanged supplier commitment.
Common questions
What else should the bid team know?
Does days always mean calendar days?
No. Obtain the actual agreed definition.
Does Excel know the supplier's shutdown dates automatically?
No. Use the verified calendar and required inputs.
Is a dispatch date the same as delivery?
Not necessarily. Keep the quoted endpoint explicit.