Excel Formulas

10 Formulas that helps you in

any JOB

Presentation Flow
1. SUM Formula
2. Count Formula
3. Count A Formula
4. LEN Function
5. TRIM Function
6. RIGHT, LEFT and MID Function
7. VLOOKUP
8. IF Statements
9. SUMIF, COUNTIF AND AVERAGEIF
10. CONCATENATE Function

SUM FORMULA

The SUM formula does exactly what you would expect. It allows
you to add 2 or more numbers together
Formula : =SUM(5,5) or =SUM(A1, B1) or =SUM(A1:B5)
The above shows you different examples. You can have numbers
in there separated by commas and it will add them together for
you, you can have cell references and as long as there are
numbers in those cells it will add them together for you, or you
can have a range of cells with a colon in between the 2 cells, and
it will add the numbers in all the cells in the range.
Keyboard Shortcuts: ALT + = (equal to sign) : The Shortcut
automatically selects the range of cells above the formula upto an
empty cell. If used after applying a filter on a column, this shortcut
will give subtotal of the filtered values for that column
Shortcut : ALT +
=

COUNT Formula

The count formula counts the number of cells in a range that have
numbers in them
This formula only works with numbers though, It only counts the
cells where there are numbers
Formula : =Count(A1:A10)

COUNTA Formula

Counts the number of non-empty cells in a range. It will count cells

that have numbers and/or any other characters in them
Formula: =COUNTA(A1:A10)
It counts the number of non-empty cells no matter the data type.

LEN Function

The LEN formula counts the number of characters in a cell. Be

careful though! This includes spaces.
Formula : =LEN(A1)

Notice the difference in the formula results: 10 characters without

spaces in between the words, 12 with spaces between the words.

TRIM Function

Useful for removing extra spaces in a cell whether at beginning, trailing or

anywhere between the words.
Often when you pull data from a database you may find some extra spaces are
put in behind or in front of legitimate data.
This can wreak havoc if you are trying to compare using IF statements or
VLOOKUPs.
Formula: =TRIM(A1)

I added in an extra space behind I Love Excel. The TRIM formula removes
that extra space. Check out the character count difference with and without
the TRIM formula.

RIGHT, LEFT and MID

These Formulas returnfunction
the specified number of characters from a
text string
Right gives you the number of specified characters from right of a
text string
Left gives you the number of specified characters from left of a
text string
MID gives you the number of specified characters from middle of a
text string
I used the LEFT formula to
Formula: =RIGHT(Text or Cell reference, number of characters),
=it
get the first word. I had
look in cell A1 and grab only
the
1st character from the
LEFT(Text or Cell reference, number of characters) andleft.
=MID(Text
This gave us the word
I from I love Excel
or Cell reference, Start Number, number of characters)

I used the RIGHT formula to

get the last word. I had it
look at cell A1 and grab the
first 5 characters from the
right. This gives us Excel
from I love Excel

I used the MID formula to

get the middle word. I had
it look in cell A1, start at
character 3, and grab 5
characters after that. This
gives us just the word
love from I love Excel

VLOOKUP Function
By far the most used function in day to day operations of many businesses
What it Does : Looks for a value in another table or array and returns value
in the same row from a column you specify
In Simple terms, it does a find action of a value from one sheet or table or
file in another sheet or table or file and copies the value corresponding to
that value from the column specified in the formula
Formula: =Vlookup(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num,
range_lookup)
Lets Break the above formula in 4 parts
a. Lookup_Value = This is the field that has common references / values to
other file which has more details
b. Table_Array = This is the range that you select from another file or
sheet or table starting from the column which has common references /
values to the lookup_value as defined in (a) above
c. Col_index_num = This is the column reference number from which you
wish to pick values against the lookup value as defined in (a) above
d. range_lookup = This is used to derive approximate or exact match. 0
or False value will provide an exact match whereas 1 or True value
will provide an approximate match

VLOOKUP Function (Contd..)

Example

Table_Arr
ay

Lookup_val
ue

Range_look
up

Col_index_nu
m

In this example, I am attempting to create Master List from List 1 and List 2 using
Sales ID Person as my Lookup _value

Some Points to remember,

a. For a vlookup function, there always need to be a common field with common values
which is referred to as lookup_value.
b. It can be read like this while attempting the formula, lookup x in this range i.e.
x:y and pick up y and do an exact match i.e. False or 0

IF Statements

This again is most used formula for a lot of analytical scenarios where a data has to
react differently based on different situations

Formula: =IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)

Logical Statements may include comparison of one value to another using >, <,
=, OR, AND, etc

In simple terms, it looks if the logical statement returns a true value or false value
and accordingly, user can define the value to be displayed if the result is true and
and value to be displayed if result is false. So basically it has 3 parts i.e. IF (logical
test), THEN (if true) and ELSE (If not true)

Lets Break the above formula in 3 parts

a. Logical Statement Usually a comparison statement using Logical Operators
b. True value If the answer to the logical statement is true, the value specified for true
value will be returned
c. False Value - If the answer to the logical statement is false, the value specified for
false value will be returned
. Example

IF Statements(Contd)

If Statement is a very powerful formula which can be used to derive results of

complex problems. It can be used to avoid multiple steps while working on a
worksheet and instead can give result in one shot. This can be done using Nested IF
Statements. This is covered in our Advanced Excel Program
Example of a Nested IF Statement
=if(logical_test, value_if_true, if(logical_test, value_if_true, if(logical_test, so on and
so forth)
Nested IF always has a new IF Statement for False value. This argument can be
continued till all the situations are covered. This statement is useful for defining Age
Buckets
=if(age<7, 0-7,if(7<age<15, 8-15, if(15<age<30, 16-30, if(30<age<60, 3160, 60 and above))))
There is one more version of IF Statements named IFERROR
This formula will be triggered if the other formulas wind up giving you an error. It
could look something like #N/A and thats pretty ugly. This can happen for legitimate
reasons, but you dont want to hand your boss a sheet full of #N/A symbols
In the above example to avoid #N/A values, below formula can be used
=iferror(if(age<7, 0-7,if(7<age<15, 8-15, if(15<age<30, 16-30,
if(30<age<60, 31-60, 60 and above)))),)

SUMIF, COUNTIF AND

AVERAGEIF

These Formulas do their respective functions i.e. if the criteria are met
Formulas: =SUMIF(Range, Criteria, Sum_Range) | =COUNTIF(Range, Criteria) |
=AVERAGEIF(Range, Criteria, Average_Range)
In Simple Terms, it provides a sum of values within cells, count of cells and average of
values within cells for the criteria if satisfied
Criteria
Examples

Sum_Range

Range

Average_Range

CONCATENATE

Simple yet a very effective and useful formula for many day-to-day operations in
office.
This Formula is also denoted by Ampersand (&) Sign and it is used for joining the
values in difference cells
Many a times, we get a database where we feel the need to combine 2 columns or 2
fields, this formula helps you achieve that in no time.
Example

In the above example, I have used Concatenate formula in Column D to derive Full
Names from the information given in Columns A, B and C
Formula: = Concatenate(A2, , B2, , C2) OR =A2& &B2& &C2.
In the above formula, I have combined the First Name, Middle Name and Surname
with Spaces between each of them. The SPACE or any Text has to be denoted in
Quotation Marks to be reflected in the result