Python Pandas - Create a BusinessHour offset

To create a BusinessHour offset, use the pd.tseries.offsets.BusinessHour() method in Pandas. This offset allows you to work with business hours and automatically handles time calculations within specified working hours.

Syntax

pd.tseries.offsets.BusinessHour(start="09:00", end="17:00")

Parameters

The BusinessHour offset accepts the following key parameters ?

• start ? Start time of business hours in 24-hour format (default: "09:00")
• end ? End time of business hours in 24-hour format (default: "17:00")
• n ? Number of business hours to offset (default: 1)

Example

Let's create a BusinessHour offset and apply it to a timestamp ?

import pandas as pd

# Set the timestamp object in Pandas
timestamp = pd.Timestamp('2021-1-1 01:55:30')

# Display the original Timestamp
print("Original Timestamp:")
print(timestamp)

# Create the BusinessHour Offset
# BusinessHour is the DateOffset subclass
# Here, "start" is the start time of your custom business hour in 24h format
# The "end" is the end time of your custom business hour in 24h format
bhOffset = pd.tseries.offsets.BusinessHour(start="09:30", end="18:00")

# Display the BusinessHour Offset
print("\nBusinessHour Offset:")
print(bhOffset)

# Add the offset to the Timestamp and display the Updated Timestamp
print("\nUpdated Timestamp:")
print(timestamp + bhOffset)

Original Timestamp:
2021-01-01 01:55:30

BusinessHour Offset:
<BusinessHour: BH=09:30-18:00>

Updated Timestamp:
2021-01-01 10:30:00

Multiple Business Hours

You can also add multiple business hours by specifying the n parameter ?

import pandas as pd

timestamp = pd.Timestamp('2021-1-1 14:30:00')
print("Original Timestamp:")
print(timestamp)

# Create offset for 3 business hours
bhOffset = pd.tseries.offsets.BusinessHour(n=3, start="09:00", end="17:00")
print("\nAdding 3 Business Hours:")
print(timestamp + bhOffset)

Original Timestamp:
2021-01-01 14:30:00

Adding 3 Business Hours:
2021-01-04 09:30:00

How It Works

The BusinessHour offset automatically handles several scenarios ?

• If the timestamp is outside business hours, it moves to the next business hour start
• If adding hours would exceed the business day, it carries over to the next business day
• Weekends are automatically skipped

Conclusion

The BusinessHour offset is useful for financial and business applications where calculations must respect working hours. It automatically handles time boundaries and weekend transitions.