Build a Maintenance Schedule in Excel With Due Dates

A maintenance schedule in Excel tells you what needs servicing and when, so nothing is missed. You list each asset with its last service date and how often it needs servicing, and three formulas do the rest: EDATE for the next due date, IF with TODAY for the status, and conditional formatting to make overdue jobs stand out. This guide builds the schedule step by step for anyone who looks after equipment, vehicles or a building.

What a maintenance schedule needs#

A useful schedule has one row per asset and a few columns that drive the formulas. Here is the layout used in this guide:

Enter the last service dates as real dates, not text. A quick check: a real date lines up on the right of the cell. You can add more columns later, such as location, owner or notes, without changing the formulas.

How to calculate the next due date with EDATE#

EDATE adds a number of months to a date, which matches how most service intervals are written. In D2, type:

=EDATE(B2,C2)

Format the result as a date (Home > Number Format > Short Date), then fill down (Windows: Ctrl+D; Mac: ⌘D). The results:

Notice the generator. There is no 31 November, so EDATE returns the last day of the month, 30 November. Adding 90 days by hand would drift away from the calendar month. The EDATE function guide and the guide to EDATE and EOMONTH cover more examples.

If an interval is in days or weeks instead, add them directly: =B2+90 for 90 days, or =B2+7*C2 for C2 weeks.

How to flag overdue jobs with IF and TODAY#

TODAY() returns the current date, so you can compare each due date with today and label it. In E2, type:

=IF(D2<TODAY(),"Overdue",IF(D2-TODAY()<=14,"Due soon","OK"))

It reads as: if the due date is before today, show Overdue. Otherwise, if it is 14 days away or less, show Due soon. Otherwise, show OK. If you checked the schedule on 3 November 2026, the results would be:

The Days left column is simply =D2-TODAY(), formatted as a number. Because TODAY() updates every time the file opens, the status changes by itself. Change 14 to suit your warning period. The IF function guide explains nested IFs, and the TODAY function guide covers how TODAY recalculates.

How to highlight overdue rows with conditional formatting#

Conditional formatting colours the rows that need action, so you see them at a glance. To shade the whole row red when it is overdue:

1. Select A2:E7.
2. Go to Home > Conditional Formatting > New Rule.
3. Choose Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
4. Enter =$D2<TODAY().
5. Click Format, pick a light red fill and click OK twice.

The $ before D keeps every cell in the row looking at the due date column. Add a second rule, =AND($D2>=TODAY(),$D2-TODAY()<=14), with an amber fill for jobs due soon. The guide to highlighting overdue dates has more rule ideas.

How to move due dates off weekends#

If a due date lands on a Saturday or Sunday, WORKDAY can move it to the next working day:

=WORKDAY(EDATE(B2,C2)-1,1)

Going back one day and then forward one working day leaves weekday dates unchanged and moves weekend dates to Monday. The air compressor's due date, Saturday 14 November 2026, becomes Monday 16 November. Add a range of public holidays as a third argument to skip those too. See the due date formula guide for other ways to count working days.

How to keep the schedule up to date#

The schedule works only if the last service dates stay current. After each job:

1. Type the new service date in column B. The next due date and status update by themselves.
2. Sort by Next due, oldest first, so the next jobs are always at the top.
3. Keep a separate log sheet with one row per completed job (date, asset, work done, cost) if you need a history.

For usage-based servicing, such as every 500 machine hours or 10,000 miles, add columns for the last reading, the current reading and the interval. Then =IF(current-last>=interval,"Due","OK") flags it. The same structure also works for certificates and contracts, as shown in the expiry date tracker.

Practise it#

The schedule rests on three skills: adding months, writing IF tests and building formatting rules. Practise EDATE, EOMONTH and WEEKDAY in a live spreadsheet, then practise the IF function and conditional formatting. Each step is checked instantly. Or try the exercise on this page: it uses a fixed check date instead of TODAY(), so the answer stays the same.