How long is a business day? Q&A with examples

recently had an interesting conversation with a fellow entrepreneur. My comrade unexpectedly wondered if I happened to know «How long is a business day and why its length is different in various countries?». It was a keen curiosity about such a subject that led me to the idea of writing an article on this subject. When I studied the issue more profoundly, many people felt frustrated trying to find an answer to it.

Note: I decided not only to explain how long is a business day but also to give specific examples with calculations. Also, below you will find some examples of the business days' length. In this way, you can more easily interact with businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide. The duration of a business day varies from place to place, and even from field to field.

What is a business day, and how long is a business day?

If we focus on the standard definition of «business day», it is defined as follows:

*A business day means any day of the week, except weekends and holidays. Such days have their own duration, on average, it is 8 hours. Unlike daytime, the length of a business day depends greatly on the organization, the industry, and even the country.

It is the fact that the length of a business day varies, that many people are not quite sure how long is a business day and how to calculate it. My friend Dan was stumped for about the same reason.

So if you cooperate with companies from other countries, you need to specify how long is a business day there. It's crucial for banking operations or signing contracts. If you don't fit within the set time frame, the process will drag on for at least one more business day.

When and who needs to know how long is a business day?

1. Depositing a check that must be emptied.
2. Payments for a number of goods and services are made exclusively through bank transactions.
3. International operations with persons located in other countries. It applies equally to both legal entities and natural persons.
4. Waiting for a parcel from another city or country. Knowing how long is a business day will make it easier to figure out the day of delivery.
5. Entering into contracts between business people, companies, clients, and order processors.

It is by no means a complete list of situations where people need additional information about business days. However, these are the most common causes. After ordering goods or services, a notification comes in the mail when receiving or sending money, indicating the deadline for a particular action. Letters and checks do not specify a specific date, the number of business days during which the service is provided, the products are delivered, or the contract is processed.

Clear examples with the calculation of the duration of the business day

If you don't know how long is a business day, sometimes it becomes a problem and leads to misunderstandings. Let me tell a case in point:

Company X promised my wife they would deliver her hair dryer within 3 business days. That seems fast. Only she made the order on Thursday evening, so the package did not arrive on Sunday as she expected, but only on Wednesday evening. My wife didn't know about these subtleties and wrote an angry comment, even though X company kept their promises on time and wasn't a day late.

Now we know how long is a business day in the United States in hours (8 hours from 9 AM to 5 PM). Based on this, you can easily calculate how long it takes to complete a financial or any other action.

Example #1

You sent money within your country on Monday. Your bank makes such transactions in 7 business days. How many days later will the recipient receive the required payment?

5 business days + 2 more business days = the transaction will be completed by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.

How did this happen? If you made the transfer on Monday morning, the money would be credited faster. And if you came to the bank on Monday evening, perhaps the financial activity will be executed with a slight delay.

Example #2

You booked an item from an online store at 10 AM and were promised that it would be delivered within a business day. The package arrived for you at 11 AM the next day. Why is that?

If you had placed the order at precisely 9 AM, in theory, the parcel would have arrived the same evening. But it usually takes some more time to process the order, collect the goods, and do the logistics. So, even when promised to deliver within one business day, orders from websites may be fulfilled the next day.

I hope my examples have helped you understand how long is a business day. And I also suggest that everyone engaged in business or interested in networking download a personal CRM. Such an application will help you keep track of your history of interaction with people and allow you to widen your network of contacts as much as possible. With Nection, you can track the history of your interactions with people, set the frequency of engagement, set reminders, and send personalized messages to different channels of your network members.

FAQ

Does within 1 business day mean 24 hours?

No, unfortunately, one business day and twenty-four hours are not identical. 1 business day consists of 8 working hours, and the time of action or delivery varies greatly. If you ordered service on a Friday evening, the time would be counted from Monday. Saturday and Sunday are not included in business days. That said, if you fall on holidays or other days that assume the company/organization will not be working, the business day time is also shifted.

What is a whole business day?

The length of an entire business day in the U.S. is considered from 9 AM to 5 PM. Thus, such a day does not last a 24-hour day, as some people think. In some countries, the business day is counted along with a break, so it is from 9 AM to 6 PM. It is essential to check the details for each country in advance before making specific banking transactions or delivering products.