Today’s Date

How to use Excel today’s date function

In Excel, today’s date can easily be inserted using the =today() formula[1]. This little-known function allows you to insert today’s date easily into any cell in the spreadsheet. The function is very straightforward and easy to use, as follows:

=today()

To insert today’s date in Excel you simply type “=today” in the cell and then open and close brackets “()” with nothing in between them.

Why use the Excel today’s date function?

For financial modeling, adding today’s date is very useful for discounting cash flows and calculating the net present value (NPV) of an investment. The today function can also be used to create a dynamic model that calculates the number of days elapsed since a certain previous date.

Because timing can make a big difference in the value of cash flows, it’s important to be very precise about when an initial investment takes place.

Caution when using inserting today’s date in Excel

If you insert the Excel today’s date function, then you will be creating a dynamic formula that will update every time you open up the spreadsheet.

In some cases, you may want to hardcode the date so that it’s fixed and won’t update every time you open Excel.  This will allow you to preserve your analysis without the impact of date/times changes.

This is especially important for a financial analyst performing their work in Excel.

More Excel resources

Thank you for reading the CFI guide to inserting today’s date.  CFI was founded with a simple purpose – to help anyone become a world-class financial analyst.  With that goal in mind, these additional CFI resources will help you become an Excel power user and an expert at financial analysis.

• Excel for dummies
• Excel shortcuts
• Excel formulas list
• Index Match Match
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