Hello,
A calculated item that computes periodend - periodstart should yield the number of days between the two dates. Because the numeric minus operator expects a number, you need to use the TreatAs() operator to perform subtraction on the date variables. That will look like this:
TreatAs(_Number_, 'periodend'n) - TreatAs(_Number_, 'periodstart'n)
The Schedule Chart object might also be of interest here, if it is available in the version of VA that you have.
Let us know if that helps,
Sam