How to Get the Beginning of Month Date in Excel Using a Formula

Learn the Excel formula to find the first day of any month using EOMONTH and simple date math.

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Yes, there is a beginning of month formula in Excel. Use the EOMONTH function combined with a small tweak to return the first day of the month. Type `=EOMONTH(reference_date, -1) + 1`, where `reference_date` is a cell containing any date within the month you're interested in. This formula takes the end of the previous month (EOMONTH(reference_date, -1)) and adds one day to reach the first day of the desired month. It's a powerful and straightforward way to calculate the start of a month dynamically.

FAQs & Answers

  1. What function calculates the beginning of a month in Excel? The EOMONTH function combined with adding one day is used to calculate the first day of a given month in Excel.
  2. How do I find the first day of the current month in Excel? You can use the formula =EOMONTH(TODAY(), -1) + 1 to get the first day of the current month.
  3. Can EOMONTH return dates before the given date? Yes, by using a negative number for the months argument, EOMONTH returns the end of a previous month.