How Long Is A Business Day (Answered: All You Need To Know)

Wondering How Long Is A Business Day?

How many actual days are there in one business day?

What’s important to know?

Keep reading as we have gathered exactly the information that you need!

Let me explain to you how long is one business day once and for all!

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Let’s get started!

How Long Is A Business Day

A business day is essentially any day of the week except for the weekend and public holidays.

In other words, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays can all be considered one business day except for when there’s a public holiday on one of those days.

If you start counting from Monday to Thursday, one business day is equal to one calendar day.

If you count starting from Friday or Saturday, one business day is three calendar days.

Finally, if you start counting as of Sunday, one business day is two calendar days.

Keep reading as I will break down exactly why one business day is sometimes one, two, or three actual days.

But first, to better answer the question “how long is a business day”, let’s go over the meaning of a business day.

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• How long is 2 business days

Business Day Meaning

A business day is any day of the week except for Saturdays and Sundays along with any other official public holiday.

In the United States, a business day is from Monday to Friday typically starting from 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For example, if I say “10 business days”, you’ll need to count 10 days that fall between Monday and Friday (excluding holidays).

In contrast, if I say “10 calendar days”, you’ll need to count 10 days of the week including weekends.

Even though some businesses may be open before 9 am or after 5 pm, we’ll still consider a business day to start from 9 am to 5 pm.

In some industries, the meaning of business day may slightly be different from the common understanding of a business day.

For instance, a business day in the banking sector may include holidays specific to the banking industry and so they may be closed on days that you’d ordinarily consider normal working days.

One Business Day Calculation

Here is the breakdown of the duration of one business day depending on what day of the week you start counting:

• Monday => Tuesday (1 day)
• Tuesday => Wednesday (1 day)
• Wednesday => Thursday (1 day)
• Thursday => Friday (1 day)
• Friday => Monday (3 days)
• Saturday => Tuesday (3 days)
• Sunday => Tuesday (2 days)

Since Saturday and Sunday are not considered business days, they will not count.

For example, if you buy something on Monday and the delivery is to be expected within one business day, you will receive your goods on Tuesday, the next business day. 

However, if you buy something on Saturday, your goods will be delivered on Tuesday as the order will generally be placed on Monday leading to one business day calculation from there.

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How Long Is A Business Day Example

Let’s look at a few examples of one business day.

To assess how long is a business day, we’ll need to first consider what day you are starting your calculation.

Scenario 1

For example, if you order a product online on Monday with a one-business-day delivery commitment, you should expect to receive your shipment on Tuesday.

Why?

Since you’re placing your order on Monday (being a business day), you should start the one-day count as of Monday (bringing you to Tuesday).

Scenario 2

What happens if you order something on Friday?

If you order on Friday, your one business day will bring you to Monday (which means it’s 3 calendar days in total).

You start counting as of Friday since Friday is a business day, you skip the weekends, and you finish your count on Monday.

Scenario 3

Now, what happens if you order something on Saturday or Sunday, how long will be the business day?

Since Saturday and Sunday are not business days, your order will be officially placed on the next day (therefore Monday).

If we start counting 1 business day from Monday, then one business day will bring us to Tuesday.

From Saturday to Tuesday, you’re looking at 3 calendar days.

From Sunday to Tuesday, you’re looking at 2 calendar days.

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• What is a calendar day
• What is a workweek

Takeaways 

So there you have it folks!

You wonder: how many actual days are in one business day?

Well, in a nutshell, 1 business day is one working day from Monday to Friday excluding holidays.

A business day is one of the most used measures in business to deliver goods, render services, commence contractual obligations or put an end to them, and so on.

In the Western nations, a business day is considered to be any day starting from Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm local time.

A business day does not include weekends and national holidays.

Now that you know how long is a business day, good luck with your research!

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