Dates in reverse and a worked example
The same start/target logic works for events that already happened, and a full worked example ties the pieces together.
Counting days since a past date
To find how many days have passed since an event, set the target date to the past event and the start date to today. The calculator returns a negative number equal in size to "days since" — for example, an event 45 days ago produces a target-minus-start result of −45.
Worked example
Suppose today is a Friday and a conference starts three weeks from today, on a Friday as well. The calendar-day count is 21 (3 weeks × 7 days). Since the span covers exactly 3 full weekends, the business-day count is 21 − 6 = 15. Expressed as weeks and days, 21 days is exactly 3 weeks, 0 days. The target date's weekday is Friday.
Planning backward from a deadline
If a task takes 10 business days and is due on a specific date, set the target date to the due date and adjust the start date backward until the business-day count reaches 10 — that tells you the latest start date that still meets the deadline, assuming no holidays fall in between.
Recurring countdowns
For yearly events like birthdays or anniversaries, update the target date's year each time you revisit the calculator — the day and month stay the same, but the countdown resets every year once the date has passed.
Keeping a record
If you are tracking a deadline over time, note the date you ran the calculation alongside the result, since both the calendar-day and business-day counts shrink by roughly one each day that passes.
With the start date, target date, and the include-start-day option set correctly, the same simple subtraction handles countdowns, count-ups, and deadline planning alike.