The EOMONTH function in Google Sheets is a useful tool for financial analysts and anyone dealing with date calculations. This function simplifies the process of determining the last day of a month that is a specified number of months before or after a given date, allowing users to effectively manage deadlines, projections, and reports.

Syntax

EOMONTH(start_date, months)

• start_date: The initial date from which to calculate.
• months: The number of months to add (positive number) or subtract (negative number) from the start_date.

Example #1

EOMONTH("2023-01-15", 2)

This function calculates the last day of the month that is 2 months after January 15, 2023, which would return 2023-03-31.

Example #2

EOMONTH("2023-07-30", -1)

This function finds the last day of the month that is 1 month before July 30, 2023, resulting in 2023-06-30.

Example #3

EOMONTH("2023-12-01", 0)

This function returns the last day of December 2023, which is 2023-12-31.

Error handling

• VALUE! – This error occurs when the start_date is not recognized as a valid date format.
• NUM! – This happens when the months argument is not a numeric value.

Conclusion

In summary, the EOMONTH function is an essential feature in Google Sheets for handling date manipulation efficiently. By allowing users to easily find the last day of any month relative to a given date, it streamlines various tasks, particularly in financial planning and forecasting. Mastering this function can significantly enhance productivity when working with dates in spreadsheets.