Formulas and worksheet functions are considered some of the most important Excel capabilities, actually, the essential tools that perform complex calculations with the purpose of manipulating data and obtaining many useful information from Excel workbooks. The formulas can be used in worksheets to calculate results from the data stored in the workbook, and what is essential, when the data changes, the formulas will calculate updated results.
Basically, an Excel formula can consist of any of these elements: Mathematical operators, such as “+” (for addition), “-” (for subtraction),
“*” (for multiplication), “/” (for division), “&” (for concatenation) etc; Cell references/addresses, including the named cells and range of cells; Numeric data, information date-type and text string; Worksheet functions (such as, SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, COUNT, IF etc.).
Excel Formula Fundamentals
Built-in functions General Syntax
=Function_name(arg1;arg2…argn)=Function_name(arg1;arg2…argn)
Functions without
arguments:=TODAY() =NOW()
Functions with a single
argument:=ISBLANK(C2) =LEN(C8)
Functions with two or more arguments:
=IF(C2>5;B2*9;”Error!”)
Nested Functions:=DAY(TODAY())
=MONTH(TODAY())
=Function_name(arg1,arg2…argn)=Function_name(arg1,arg2…argn)
Entering Formulas into Worksheets
Entering formulas by pointing or manually
Entering a formula manually involves entering the function name and arguments to the keyboard. In a selected cell, we simply type an equal sign (=), followed by the desired formula. As we type, the characters appear both in the active cell (cell B2) and in the Formula Bar, as well.If we want to display the calculation expression on the current cell, it is necessary to double-click the cell. Excel provides another method of entering formulas that is generally less error-prone - this method still involves the manual typing, but we can simply point to the cell references instead of typing their values manually.
Entering Formulas into Worksheets
Entering formulas by pointing or manually
Employee Name Employee Code
Increasing the Formula Readability Evaluating Part of a
Formula
Select any part of a formula and press F9 functional key to convert it to its resulting value.
Enter the line breaks into formula by pressing the keyboard shortcut Alt + Enter.
Evaluate only a part of formula using the Excel Formula Evaluator dialog box: Functions tab on the Ribbon–Evaluate Formula command
Entering Formulas into Worksheets
Using Formula AutoComplete New Feature
Excel 2007 provides additional assistance when you create formulas by displaying a drop-down list that contains function names and range names. The items displayed in the list are determined by what letter you have already typed. If you type an additional letter, the list is filtered to show only the matching functions. This feature is not case-sensitive, so you can use either uppercase or lowercase characters. To have Excel AutoComplete an entry in that list, use the arrow keys to highlight the entry, and then press Tab key. This new feature also provides a list of defined names and function arguments. Notice that highlighting a function in the list also displays into a screen tip, a brief description of the desired built-in function.
Entering Formulas into Worksheets
Using the Ribbon and Insert Function dialog box
The easiest way to locate and insert a built-in function is by using the Insert Function dialog box capabilities. This entry formula approach provides a complete access to all the built-in Excel functions. We can access this dialog box in several ways: by using the Formulas tab on the Ribbon - Function Library group - Insert Function command; by pressing the Insert Function icon, which is located to the left-end of the Formula bar; or by pressing the Shift+F3 keyboard shortcut.
Find a built-in function by using
Insert Function dialog boxAs a tip, to get a quick assistance when we enter an Excel function in the Formula bar or directly in the current cell, we must simply type an equal sign, followed by the function name, and after that we must press the keyboard shortcut CTRL+A, for the purpose to display on the screen the Function Arguments dialog box.
Searching a function by
formulating a request
Ask a question in the Search box and Excel will suggest all appropriate functions according with your request (press Go button).
Ask a question in the Search box and Excel will suggest all appropriate functions according with your request (press Go button).
Excel Built-in functionsFunction categories
Excel Built-in functionsFunction categories
Mathematical functions Statistical functions Logical functions Information functions Date and Time functions Lookup and Reference functions
Text functions Database functions Financial functions
Mathematical functions
=SUM (number1;number2; …)Adds all the numbers in a specified range of cells.
Mathematical functions
=PRODUCT (number1;number2; …) Multiplies all the components of the specified
arguments.
=SUMPRODUCT (array1;array2; …) Multiplies all its arguments and returns the sum of those products. One can include up to 30 arrays as arguments, but each array must have the same dimensions, otherwise, Excel will return an error value. The non-numeric entries will be treated as zero. For example, the following formulas mean basically the same thing:
=SUMPRODUCT(A1:A7;B1:B7) or
{=SUM(A1:A7*B1:B7)}
Mathematical functions
=SUMIF (criteria_range;criteria [;sum_range] )
Adds the cells specified by a given criteria • The criteria_range represents the range of
cells that we want to test (to evaluate);
• The criteria argument specifies the conditional test to be performed on each cell in the range;
• The sum_range argument specifies the cells to be totaled (this argument is optional - if sum_range is omitted, the cells of criteria_range will be summed).
Mathematical functions=SUMIFS (sum_range;criteria_range1;criteria1; criteria_range2;criteria2;…)
Tests each cell in a range using multiple criteria before adding it to the total.• The sum_range represents the range
containing the values we want to summarize;
• The criteria_rangen argument is a cell range containing data to be evaluated;
• The criterian argument is a cell range containing values, expressions, references, or text that defines which cells will be added to the total.
Mathematical functionsExamples
Mathematical functionsExamples
Suppose that we want to get a sum of invoice amounts that were delivered on March and associated with the Cluj Office.
=SUMIFS(D2:D11;B2:B11;"Cluj";C2:C11;">=1-03-08"; C2:C11;"<=31-03-2008")
Mathematical functions
=MOD(number;divisor)
Returns the remainder produced when a number is divided by a divisor.
Keep in mind!If the number is smaller than the divisor, the result
of the function equals number;If the number is exactly divisible by divisor, the
function returns the null-value;If divisor is 0, MOD returns the #DIV/0! error value.
Mathematical functions
Mathematical functions
=RANDBETWEEN(bottom_value;top_value)
Generates random integer values between a specified range of numbers.The values of the arguments are inclusive.
Mathematical rounding functions
=INT(number) Rounds numbers down to the nearest integer.
=ROUND(decimal_number;positional_constant) Rounds a decimal value to a
specified number of decimal places, rounding digits less than five down and digits greater than or equal to five up.
If the second function argument is positive, the function rounds to the right side of the decimal point, on the contrary, if the argument is negative, the function rounds to the left side of the decimal point.
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Mathematical rounding functions
=ROUNDUP(number;positional_constant)
Rounds numbers up to the specified number of decimal places.
=ROUNDDOWN(number;positional_constant)
Rounds numbers down to the specified number of decimal places.
Number can be a decimal or integer number, a reference to a cell that contains a number or a formula that results in a number;
Positional_constant can be any positive or negative integer and determines the number of decimal places.
Rounding functions
=MROUND(number;rounding_multiple) Rounds up or rounds down a number to the
nearest multiple. If this function is not available, and returns the #NAME? error, install the Analysis ToolPak add-ins.
Rounding functions
=MROUND(number;multiple) Rounds up or rounds down a number to the
nearest multiple. If this function is not available, and returns the #NAME? error, install and load the Analysis ToolPak add-in (Tools menu)
Product Name
Real Price
RoundedPrice
=MROUND(B31;POWER(10;LEN(INT(B31))-2))
Rounding functions
Product Name
Real Price
RoundedPrice
=CEILING(number;multiple)
Rounds a number up to the nearest given multiple.
=FLOOR(number;multiple)
Rounds a number down to the nearest given multiple.
Rounding functions
Real Price
Rounded Price
CEILING
Rounded Price
FLOOR
=ODD(number)
Rounds a number up to the nearest odd integer. Example: ODD(22,4)=23
=EVEN(number)
Rounds a number up to the nearest even integer. Example: EVEN(22,4)=24
Rounding functions
Statistical functions
=MAX (number1;number2; …) returns the largest value in a range. =MIN (number1;number2; …) returns the smallest value in a range.
=AVERAGE (number1;number2; …) returns the average value in a range by summing a series of numeric values and then dividing the result by the number of values. The function can include up to 30 arguments and ignores the empty cells and the cells containing the text values.
Statistical functions
=AVERAGEIF (criteria_range;criteria;average_range) returns the average value for the cells specified by a given criterion.=AVERAGEIFS (average_range;criteria_range1;criteria1; criteria_range2;criteria2; …) returns the average value for the cells specified by multiple criteria.
Statistical functions
=COUNT (value1;value2; …) counts the number of cells that contain numbers, including dates and formulas that return numbers.
=COUNTIF (criteria_range;criteria) counts the cells that match a specified condition (it functions both for numeric data and for string data).
=COUNTA (value1;value2; …) counts the number of cells that contain numbers or any type of information, including empty text (""), but not including empty cells (logical values, text, or error values).
=COUNTIFS (criteria_range1;criteria1; criteria_range2;criteria2; …) returns the number of cells that meet multiple criteria.
Statistical functionsExamples
Statistical functions
=CORREL(array1;array2)
Returns the correlation coefficient of two array cell ranges that contain values.
0.65
Statistical functions
=MODE (number1;number2; …)
Displays that value which appears most frequently in a set of numbers. If no numbers occurs more than once, MODE returns an error value (#N/A).
Statistical functions
=FREQUENCY (data_array;interval_array)
Calculates the number of times specified values appear within a statistical numeric series.FREQUENCY is entered as an array formula after we select a range of adjacent cells into which we want the returned distribution to appear.
Statistical functions
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