How to Get Quarter from a Date [Fiscal + Calendar] in Excel (Formula)

In Excel, there is no direct function to get a quarter from a date. But you can create a formula for this.

Yes, you can use a formula to calculate a quarter from a date. Even there is more than one method that you can use. Alright, as you know there is a total of four quarters in a year but the thing is you can get a quarter from a date in different ways.

The first is, assuming a year on a normal calendar basis or the second one on a fiscal calendar basis. And in today’s post, I’m going to show you methods to get the quarter number using both of the calendars and I’ll also share more than one method with you for this.

So let’s get started.

1. Get Quarter by using ROUNDUP and MONTH Functions

Using a combination of ROUNDUP and MONTH is the best way to find the quarter of a date. It returns a quarter as a number (like 1,2,3,4).

Here’s the formula.

=ROUNDUP(MONTH(A1)/3,0)

Here we are using 26 May 2018 as a date and the formula returns 2 in the result. You can use the below formula if you want to add a Q before the quarter number.

="Q-"&ROUNDUP(MONTH(A1)/3,0)

How this formula works

This formula works in three parts.

In the first part, we used the MONTH function and referred to the date which returns the month number.

After that, in the second part, we divided that month number by 3 which gives us a number with decimals.

At last, in the third part, we used the ROUNDUP function to round (that number with decimals) which gives us the actual quarter.

Here’s the real thing: You know there are 4 quarters and twelve months. Right? And if you divide all the month numbers by three (yes, just with 3) you’ll get something like the below.

And when you round them up you’ll always get the quarter number for the month.

2. Get Quarter by using the Fiscal Calendar

In the above example, we have used a simple formula to have a quarter from a date, but sometimes you need to use a fiscal calendar.

And for a fiscal calendar quarter calculation, we need to use a different formula and in this formula, we need to combine CHOOSE and MONTH functions.

Here’s the formula:

=CHOOSE(MONTH(A1),4,4,4,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3)

(Here I’ve used the Indian fiscal year which starts on 1 April and ends on 31 March)

It returns 1 in the result as the month in May and our year starts from April and May is the second month in the year that comes under the first quarter.

How this formula works

Here we have combined two different functions and it works in two parts.

In the first part, we have used the MONTH function to get the month number from the date and here it returns 5.

After that, in the second part, we have used to choose the function to get a number according to the month number returned by the MONTH function.

You can learn more about CHOOSE from here.

If you look, in CHOOSE function we have specified 12 different numbers (4,4,4,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3) so when MONTH returns a number CHOOSE returns a number from this list.

Here’s the deal:

For the first three numbers, we have 4 which means if it returns 1,2, or 3 (Jan-Mar) we will get 4 and for the next three months, we will get 1 (That’s because our fiscal year is starting from April).

3. Convert a Date into a Quarter using VBA Code

Here we are using a VBA code to simply convert a date into its quarter number. Here’s the code:

Sub convert2Quarter()

Dim Rng As Range

For Each Rng In Selection
If IsDate(Rng.Value) = True Then
Rng.Value = DatePart("q", Rng.Value)
Rng.NumberFormat = “General”
End If
Next Rng

End Sub

To use this code all you need to do is to add it to your VB editor.

And then simply select the cells where you need to convert a date into a quarter number and finally run this code.

Here’s how this code works…

When you run this code, firstly it checks whether the cell has a date or not, and if it’s a date then it converts it into the quarter number.

We have used two different VBA functions here:

1. ISDATE: To check whether the cell has a date.
2. DATEPART: To convert a date into a quarter.

Check this out: Top 100 Useful Macro Codes for VBA New Comers | What is VBA in Excel

4. Get the Quarter Start date from a Date

Let’s forget about the quarter number and use the starting date of the quarter.

That means if we have the date 26-May-2018 so instead of having quarter number 2 we can have 01-Apr-2018 which is the starting date of the first month of the quarter. Here’s the formula which we need to use:

=DATE(YEAR(A1),FLOOR.MATH(MONTH (A1)-1,3)+1,1)

When you enter this formula it simply returns the starting date of the quarter.

How this Formula Works

This formula is made up of four different parts which give you the starting date of a quarter.

In the first part, we have used the MONTH function which returns the month number for the date.

So when MONTH returns 5 as the month number (then minus one from it), in the second part, FLOOR round down it to 3 and then adds one into it so can we get 4 which is the first month (April) the same quarter?

After that, in the third part, we used the YEAR function to get the year from the actual date.

And in the fourth part, we have simply combined the DATE function to create a date combining values that come from the first two parts.

5. Get Quarter End date from a Date

OK, so you need the end date of a quarter instead of the start date or the number and for this, the formula which we can use is:

=DATE(YEAR(A2),((INT((MONTH(A2)-1)/3)+1)*3)+1,1)-1

For 26-May-18, it returns on 30-Jun-18 which is the last date of the quarter.

How this Formula Works

In this formula, we have four different parts.

In the first part, we have combined INT and MONTH functions. MONTH returns the month number of the date and then we have divided it by 3. After that INT rounds down it to the nearest integer.

In the end, we multiplied it by 3 to get 6 (June) which is the end month of the quarter, and then added 1 into it.

In simple words, this part of the formula simply converts the month of the actual date to the next quarter’s first month.

In the second part, we used the YEAR function to get the year from the actual date.

After that, in the third part, simply used 1 complete the date with the DATE function.

Sorry! One more thing.

In the fourth, minus 1 from the entire formula, so that we can have the last date of the quarter instead of the first date of the next quarter.

Conclusion

By just combining functions, you can create a simple formula to calculate a quarter from a date. And in this post, we have explored four formulas + VBA code for this.

Frankly speaking, #1 is the most used and simplest way to find a quarter of date but you can use the rest if you want. I hope you found this post useful, but now, tell me this.

Do you know any other method which to calculate the quarter number from a date?

Share with me in the comment section, I’d love to hear from you, and please don’t forget to share this tip with your friends. I’m sure they will appreciate it.