Vlookup Example With Closest Match

If the [range_lookup] argument in the Vlookup function is set to TRUE (or is omitted), this tells
the Vlookup function that if it is unable to find an exact match to the lookup_value, then the
closest match below the lookup_value should be used instead.

It is important to remember that, when the [range_lookup] argument is set to TRUE, the left-
hand column of the table_array must be in ascending order. If it isn't, the results from the
Vlookup function may be unpredictable.

The following example shows a Vlookup function with the [range_lookup] argument set to
TRUE.

Vlookup Example
Balance Interest Rate
$0 - $999.99 1%
$1,000 - $4,999.99 3%
$5,000 - $19,999.99 4%
Over $20,000 5%

Imagine a bank account has a variable interest rate, that depends upon its balance as shown in the
table on the right.

The "Interest Rate" spreadsheet below shows these interest rate categories and the "Bank
Accounts" spreadsheet below shows several bank accounts, along with their current balances.

 Interest Rates:  Bank Accounts:

Column C of the "Bank Accounts" spreadsheet is currently blank, but this column needs to be
updated with the interest rate that is to be applied to each bank account, depending on the
account's current balance. This can be done using the Vlookup function, as shown below:

 Bank Accounts spreadsheet with Vlookup functions:

For each of the bank accounts in the above spreadsheet, the Vlookup function, finds the closest
value below the current balance, in column A of the "Interest Rates" spreadsheet. The function
then returns the corresponding value from column C of this spreadsheet.

The results of the Vlookup functions are shown below:

 Bank Accounts spreadsheet with Vlookup results:

Vlookup Example Explained

The first call to the Vlookup function, in C2 is:

=VLOOKUP( B2, 'Interest Rates'!A2:C5, 3, TRUE )

The table below explains the arguments that are supplied to this function:

Sets the lookup_value (i.e. the value to be searched for) to be the

A2 - contents of cell B2
The lookup_value is, therefore, the value 5.69
Sets the lookup_array to be the range A2-C5 of the "Interest Rates"
spreadsheet.
'Interest Rates'!A2:C5 - The Vlookup function will search down the leftmost column (i.e.
column A) of this array, when searching for the closest match below
the lookup_value 5.69
Tells the function that the value to be returned should be taken from
3 - column 3 of the supplied array (i.e. from column C of the "Interest
Rates" spreadsheet).
TRUE - Tells the Vlookup function that we require a closest match to the
lookup_value.
I.e. if an exact match is not found, then use the closest value below the
lookup_value.
Note that this value could have been omitted from the above formula
as, by default, it takes on the value TRUE.