What this calculator does
A fortnight is two weeks, 14 days, a term in everyday use across Australia, the UK, New Zealand and Ireland for pay cycles, school terms and rental periods. This calculator counts how many whole fortnights, and how many fortnights in total, fall between any two dates, including from today through to the end of the current year.
Because the count always runs from whatever "today" is when the page loads, the answer to "how many fortnights are left this year" changes correctly day by day rather than being frozen to a single year. Set the from and to dates to whatever range you actually need, whether that is the rest of this year, a pay cycle, or the run-up to any fixed event.
The formula
Subtract the from date from the to date to get the number of days between them, then divide by 14. The whole-fortnights figure is that result rounded down, with the leftover days shown separately, since a range rarely divides evenly into exact fortnights.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Fortnight | A period of 14 days, equivalent to two weeks. |
| Whole fortnights | The number of complete 14-day periods that fit inside the date range, rounded down. |
| Remaining days | Whatever is left over after removing the whole fortnights, always fewer than 14 days. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| From date | The start of the range. Defaults to today. |
| To date | The end of the range. Defaults to 31 December of the current year, but can be set to any date. |
When to use it
Checking fortnights left in the year
Left at their defaults, the two date fields answer exactly this: how many fortnights remain between today and the end of the year, recalculated fresh whenever the page is loaded.
Planning around fortnightly pay
If pay lands every second Thursday, counting fortnights to a target date estimates how many pay cycles fall before it, useful for budgeting toward a date like a trip or a bill.
Working out a fortnightly rental or lease period
Rent charged per fortnight is common in Australia and New Zealand; counting the fortnights in a lease term converts it into the number of rent payments due.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
How the fortnight count grows over the following year, from today
A fixed start of today, with the end date pushed progressively further out.
| Days from today | Fortnights remaining | Total days between the dates |
|---|---|---|
| +14 days | 1.00 | 14 |
| +30 days | 2.14 | 30 |
| +90 days | 6.43 | 90 |
| +180 days | 12.86 | 180 |
| +365 days | 26.07 | 365 |
How the fortnight count shrinks as the starting point moves later
A fixed end point 180 days from today, with the starting date moved later in steps.
| Starting point | Fortnights remaining | Total days between the dates |
|---|---|---|
| Today | 12.86 | 180 |
| +30 days from today | 10.71 | 150 |
| +60 days from today | 8.57 | 120 |
| +90 days from today | 6.43 | 90 |
Questions
How many fortnights are in a year?
A 365-day year holds 26 whole fortnights with one day left over (365 ÷ 14 = 26.07); a 366-day leap year holds 26 whole fortnights with two days left over.
Is a fortnight always exactly 14 days?
Yes. Unlike a month, which varies from 28 to 31 days, a fortnight is a fixed 14-day period, which is why fortnightly pay dates fall on the same weekday every time.
Why does the default "to" date change every year?
It is set to 31 December of whichever year the page happens to load in, calculated from the current date rather than typed in as a fixed year, so the calculator keeps working correctly in any future year without needing an update.
How is this different from a weeks-to-months converter?
A weeks-to-months conversion translates one time unit into another using an average month length. This calculator instead counts the actual number of 14-day periods between two specific calendar dates, which is a different, date-based question.
For a plain day, week or month count between two dates instead of fortnights specifically, see the weeks to months calculator. To move forward a set number of weeks from a single date, use the weeks calculator.