Download - Excel if Statements LOOKUPS

7/21/2019 Excel if Statements LOOKUPS

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Excel IFStatements,LOOKUPS&INDEX/MATCH.Whentochoosewhichone?

ThisarticlewillfocusontheappropriateuseofIFstatements,andalsoshowyouwhenit'sbettertomoveintomorerobustformulas

likeLOOKUP,VLOOKUP,HLOOKUP&INDEX/MATCH.

NOTES:thisarticleiswrittenforExcel2010anditsRibbonInterface. TheexamplesyouseewerecreatedinExcel2010,butsavedasExcel972003.

WorkingexamplesarehostedonMicrosoft's[url=http://cid8cffdec0ce27e813.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?resid=8CFFDEC0CE27E813!195]SkyDrive

service[/url]foryoutodownload.

IFstatements

are

one

of

the

core

formula

models

you

can

use

in

Excel,

and

they

can

be

very

powerful

with

regards

to

their

logic.

Verysimplytheyfollowthismethodology:IF(somethingisTrue,thendosomething,otherwisedosomethingelse).

=IF(A1="Yes",1,2),whichsimplysaysifA1=Yes,thenreturna1,otherwisereturna2.

YoucanalsocombineIFstatementstoevaluatemultiplecriteriabynestingthem,however,manypeopletrytogetIFstatementsto

dotoomuch.PreviousversionsofExcelallowedupto7levelsofnestedIFstatements,whichmeansthatyoucouldevaluateupto7

differentcriteria. Excel2007+allows64levelsofnestedIFstatements,butjustbecauseyoucandosomethingdoesn'tmeanyou

should!

OneofthemostcommonusesofIFstatementsistoreturndatathatmatchesspecificcriteria,orfallswithinarangeofvalues.Here

isarelativelycommonexampleofanestedIFstatementtoreturnlettergradesbasedontestscores:

=IF(A1>=90,"A",IF(A1>=80,"B",IF(A1>=70,"C",IF(A1>=60,"D",IF(A125000,A1*2%,IF(A1>15000,A1*1.5%,IF(A1>5000,A1*1%,0)))

Notethatinbothformulas,thecriterianeedtobeorderedsequentiallyinorderfortheformulatocalculatecorrectly. Sointhefirst

exampleA1>=90getsevaluatedfirst,andifthatconditionistrue,thentheformulaperformsthecalculationassociatedwiththat

condition. Iftheconditionisnttrue,thenitmovesontothesecond,andsoon. Butifyougetyourconditionsoutoforder,thenone

conditioncaninvalidatethenextandrenderyourformula(s)useless. OneoftheinherentweaknesseswithIFstatementsisthat

theyneedtobepreciseandordered.

Whilebothoftheseformulasworkfine,they'reunwieldyandshouldbeavoidedifatallpossible. Why? Primarilybecausethedata

intheformulasisstatic,soiftheconditionsdrivingtheformulaeverneedtobechanged,theformulaneedstobemanuallyadjusted

asaresult. Granted,thegradesexampleisn'ttoobad,becauseit'snotlikelythatinformationwillchangetoooften,butjustimagine

howmuchworkyou'dhavetodoifyouhavealotofformulaslikethecommissionexample,andyouhavetochangethecriteria.

Ideally,you'llgetintothehabitofonlyusingIFstatementsforTextcomparisonsliketheearlierexample. Yes/No/Maybeor

Male/Femaleevaluationsareverycommon,andthenicethingaboutthemisthatcriteriaarentlikelytochangeveryoften. Ifyou

findyourselfwithsituationslikethisthenbyallmeansuseIFstatements,otherwiseit'stimetomoveuptomorerobustalternatives

startingwithLOOKUP.

OneoftheprimaryreasonstomoveawayfromIFstatementsformultiplecriteriaissothatyoucanuse"tablebased"reference

data. Thisgivesyoutheabilitytohaveyourdatapointsonaworksheet,wherethevaluescanbeeasilychanged,asopposedto

hardcodedin

aformula,

where

changing

the

values

can

be

achallenge.

Many

workbooks

have

broken

because

of

numerous

IF

statementsthatsomeonedidntupdate. Inthecommissionexampleabove,whatwouldhappenifyouneededtochangethe2%

andyouhadhundredsofformulasdependingonthatone? Itwouldntbefun,andthatsarelativelysmallexample. Imagineone

with64conditions! Andthatsifyoucanevenfindtheformulainthefirstplace! Tablebaseddependenciesaremucheasierto

changeonthefly,whichcanmeanalotespeciallyifyouredealingwithcomplexmodelsandtestingmultiplecriteria.

Note:datatablesthatdrivereferentialformulasdontneedtobehousedintheopenwhereuserscanchangethem. Veryoftenyoullfindsensitivetableshousedonhiddenworksheets,whereonlythecreator/administratorcanchangethedata.

ThefirstformulainthefamilyofreferentialformulasisLOOKUP(theyrecalledreferentialformulasbecausetheycanreturna

referencetoavalue,oravalueinarangeofvalues). LOOKUPhasplentyofuses,butitsalsothemostfragileandleastflexiblein

theLookupfamily.


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FollowingareexamplesofaDiscounttable,andaGradestableusingastandardLOOKUPfunction:

ALOOKUPformulaevaluatesavalue(eitherhardcodedorinacell)thenfindsamatchforitinatablethatliststhevaluestobe

lookedup,andthevaluestoreturn. IntheseexamplesImusingLOOKUPtoreturnavariablerangefromalistofvalues. LOOKUPis

governedbythefollowingsyntax:

=LOOKUP(Valueyouwanttolookup,rangewhereyouwanttoreturntherightmostvalue).

NOTE:LOOKUPformulascanlookupahardcodedvalue,ortheycanlookupavaluefromacell.

=VLOOKUP(900,A2:B23)&LOOKUP(A5,A2:B23)doexactlythesamething,butthelatterismuchmoreflexiblesinceyoudonthavetochangethe900

valuewheneveryouwanttochangethelookupvalue. Youshouldalwaystrytousecellreferencesinformulasasopposedtohardcodedvalues.

Sointheexampleabove,=LOOKUP(A5,A2:B23) willlookinrangeA2:A23forthevalueclosesttowhatwasenteredincellA5,and

returnthecorrespondingvaluefromcolumnB. Inthiscase,lookingfor$900resultsina2%resultbymatching$750,whichisthe

largestvaluethatslessthanorequaltothevalueevaluatedbytheformula. Hadyouenteredavaluebetween$1,000and$1,249

theresultwouldhavebeen3%. NotethattheLOOKUPformularequiresyourdatatobesortedinAscendingorder,otherwiseits

notgoingtoprovideyouwithconsistentorcorrectresults. AquicknoteonLOOKUPanditscounterpartVLOOKUPisthattheycan

onlylooktotherightofthelookupvalue;theycantgototheleft. ForthatyouneedtocombineINDEX/MATCH,whichwillbe

coveredlater.


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VLOOKUPThisisthebigbrothertotherelativelylimitedLOOKUP,andgivesyoumoreflexibilitywithregardstowhatdatayoucan

returnandwhere. VLOOKUPfollowsthissyntax:

=VLOOKUP(Valueyouwanttolookup,rangewhereyouwanttolookupthevalue,numberofcolumnstotherightofthe

foundvalue,ExactMatchorApproximateMatchIndicatedwith0/FALSEor1/TRUE).

SowhereLOOKUPisgoingtoreturnavaluefromtherightmostcolumnintherangethatyouspecify,VLOOKUPletsyoulookupa

multicolumnrange,andchoosewhichcolumnfromwhichtoreturnavalue. VLOOKUPisveryoftenusedinfinancescenarioswith

12Monthperiodsbecauseyoucaneasilychoosewhichmonthtoreturn.

Notethefirsttwoformulasusestaticcolumnreferences(2&3),whichtelltheformulatoreturnvaluesfromthesecondandthird

columnsrespectively:

=VLOOKUP($A8,$A$2:$M$4,2,FALSE)

=VLOOKUP($A8,$A$2:$M$4,3,FALSE)

Thisisallwellandgood,andformanymodelslikethisoneitsok,butitcanbetimeconsumingtohavetogointoeachformulaand

adjustthosecolumnreferences. Thelatterformulas(Marchforward)useatricktomakethecolumnsdynamicbyusingthe

COLUMN()functioninstead:

=VLOOKUP($A8,$A$2:$M$4,COLUMN(),FALSE)

SointhecaseofMarch,itsthe4th

columntotheright,andCOLUMN()returnsa4,whichfeedsthecorrectnumbertotherestofthe

formula.Butthisexampleassumesthatyoullhavearelativelystaticdatasetliketheoneabove. Butwhatifyourcolumnheaders

arentalwaysthesame? ThenextexampleshowsyouhowtobuildadynamicVLOOKUPwhereyoudonthavetoknowtheheaders

orwheretheyrelocated,yousimplyhavetheformuladoitforyou.


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Inthisexampleyoucoulduse:=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,2,FALSE), butyouwouldneedtomanuallyadjustthecolumnreference

accordingly,knowingthatNameiscolumn2,Departmentiscolumn5,Earningscolumn6,andRegioncolumn4. Oryoucan

introducetheMATCHformula. UsingMATCH,youdontneedtoknowthecolumnheaders,becauseyoutelltheformulatofind

themforyou.

TheformulasinB5:E5are(theredtextindicateswheretheformulasaredifferent):

=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH(B4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)

=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH(C4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)


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=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH(D4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)

=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH( E4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)

ThisisverysimilartousingtheCOLUMN()functioninthepreviousexample,exceptthistimethecolumnsarentinorder,sowe

cantusethat. InsteadweuseMATCH,whichfindsthevaluewespecify. InthiscasewematchtheheadervaluesinB4:E4(Name,

Department,Earnings,andRegion)withthecorrespondingheadersinA8:F8. MATCHreturnsanumericmatchfromthebeginning

ofthedataseriestotheend,soNameis2,Departmentis5,andsoon.

MATCHsyntax

is

as

follows:

=MATCH(Valueorcellyouwanttofind,Rangetolookin,0=Onlyfindanexactmatch).

NOTE:Ifyouleavethe0outorputa1,theformulawillfindtheclosestapproximatematch.

NextintheLOOKUPfamilyoffunctionsisHLOOKUP. WhereVLOOKUPisaverticallookup,lookingfromlefttorightinarange,

HLOOKUPisahorizontallookup,whichgoesfromtopdowninarange.

HLOOKUPssyntaxisverysimilartoVLOOKUP:

=HLOOKUP(Valueyouwanttolookup,Rangeyouwanttolookin,numberofrowsdowntoreturnavalue,TRUE/FALSE)

NOTE:Hereagain,1/TRUEwillreturnanapproximatematch,while0/FALSEwillreturnanexactmatch.

InthiscaseImdoingadynamicHLOOKUPsothatIdonthavetoknowthepositionsoftherowsthatIwanttoreturn.

WheretheformulasinC5:E5are:

=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,MATCH(C4,$A$7:$A$16,0),FALSE)

=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,MATCH(D4,$A$7:$A$16,0),FALSE)

=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,MATCH(E4,$A$7:$A$16,0),FALSE)

SoforC5,ImlookingforthevalueinB5(Qtr3)inA7:F16,andMATCHisreturningthe4th

rowdownforGrossProfit. Withoutthe

MATCHformulaitwouldbe:

=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,4,FALSE)


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Andyouwouldneedtomanuallyadjusttherowreferencesasyoucopiedtheformula,soyoudneedtomanuallydeterminewhere

GrossProfit,NetProfitandProfit%fellwithinthatrangeandadjusttheformulatosuit.

Finally,weremovingontowhatisprobablythemostpowerfuloflookupcombinations,whichiswhenyouuseINDEX&MATCH

together. YouvealreadyseenhowyoucanuseMATCHtomakelookupsmoredynamic,butwhathappensifyouneedtodoa

lookuptotheleft,whenLOOKUPsonlygototheright? INDEX/MATCHisthesolution,andonceyougetthehangofit,youllbe

surprisedhoweasyitis.

YouknowthatMATCHreturnsareferenceforavaluefoundinatablebygivingyouthevaluespositioninthetable. INDEXreturns

aROW&COLUMNreferenceinarangebasedonwhatrow&columnyoutellittolookin,so:

=INDEX(A1:B10,1,2)

WouldreturnthevalueincellB1,whereINDEXssyntaxis:

=INDEX(Rangeyouwanttolookin,#ofrowstolookdownfromthetopoftherange,#ofcolumnstolooktotherightof

therange).

Butwait,youmightbethinkingthatscontrarytowhatIsaidaboutINDEX/MATCHbeingabletolookleft! Dontworry,theycanand

thefollowingexampleshowshow:

Note:aswithLOOKUPsyoucanreturnamatchingvalueinthesamecolumnasthelookupvalue,butthatsgenerallypointlessunlessyourejusttrying

toseeifavalueactuallyexistsinatable.


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8/8

Inthiscase,wereusingtheEmployeeNametoreturntheothervaluesinthelist. SomearetotherightofEmployeeNameand

someareontheleft. Thevariousformulasareasfollows:

EmployeeID#: =INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH( $A5,$A$11:$F$11,0))

SSN: =INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4, $B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A6,$A$11:$F$11,0))

Region: =INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4, $B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A7,$A$11:$F$11,0))

Department:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A8,$A$11:$F$11,0))

Earnings: =INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4, $B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A9,$A$11:$F$11,0))

TheonlyvariationintheformulasisA5:A9,whereImtellingitwhatcolumnheadertofindintheinformationtable.

SotheINDEXformulasaysLookintherangeA12:F51andfirstfindtherownumberthatholdstheemployeenameinB12:B51,then

findthecolumnnumberthatholdstheheader(EmployeeID#,SSN,Region,etc.)inA11:F11,andreturntheintersectionofthose

twovalues. SointhisexampleforSandyStewart,forEmployeeID#,Iwantthe4th

rowinthefirstcolumn,whichistotheleftofthe

namecolumnwerelookingin. Sothatshowyoucanlookuptotheleft.

Nowyoumightbethinkingthatsabithardtofathomallatonce,andfranklyitcanbe,buttheresatricktobuildingcomplex

formulaslike

this:

you

do

them

one

step

at

atime.

Youll

see

the

detail

of

how

Igot

here

in

the

sample

workbook,

but

Ill

walk

you

throughitjustincase.

First,sinceIknowIllbeusingEmployeenameastheprimarydriverfortherestoftheformula,Istarttherebymatchingasample

nameintheNamecolumn. Inthiscase,SandyStewartisrow4,whichIfindwithaMATCHformula:

=MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0) SofindSandysnameincolumnBandgivemeanexactmatch.

ThenstartingwithEmployeeID#,whichIknowiscolumn1,Itakethe4andaddittoanINDEXformula:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,4,1)

WhichgivesmeE033,andthatsthefourthrowinthefirstcolumn.

NowIneedtoreplacethe4andthe1. Ialreadyhavethe4,soIcanaddthatnext:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0) ,1)

NextIneedtofindthe1forEmployeeID#,whichIcandowithanotherMATCHformula:

=MATCH($A5,$A$11:$F$11,0)

Finally,Ireplacethe1withmynewMATCHformula:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0), MATCH($A5,$A$11:$F$11,0) )

Nowyoucancopythefinalformuladown,andaslongasyougotyourAbsolutereferencesrightitwillautomaticallyupdateforeach

cellitscopiedinto.