Basic Excel Formulas Excel ABC
Welcome to Excel ABC Basics This Ebook will teach you the basic excel that you will need to know to ease your workload. From my experience, there are 10 most commonly used formula that we use on a day to day basis. For this ebook, I will assume that you know have no knowledge on excel formulas. The 10 commonly used formula are 1. Sum 2. Sumif 3. Average 4. Count 5. Counta 6. Min & Max 7. Concatenate 8. Vlookup 9. Index match 10. If EXCEL ABC 1
Sum Sometimes we will need to find the total value of a list. In excel we can get the total sum easily by simply using the build in sum formula to help us calculate. Scenario 1 We decided to purchase milk,egg and cereal for breakfast. What will be the total cost of this shopping trip? 1. To get the total value of a list of items, a. Click AutoSum in the formula tab at the bottom of the list 2. I prefer to type the formula (as it saves time) a. = sum ( Starting cell of the list : Ending cell of the list ) i. For the above example it will be =sum(c2:c4) For this scenario the total will be $9.90. EXCEL ABC 2
Sumif If you want to only sum specific responds total, we will use sumif. Scenario 2 As from the previous shopping list, we decided not to purchase eggs. What will be the new total cost of this shopping trip? To represent the scenario above, we included the to buy column into our data pool. In this way we can differentiate what item we decide to buy and not to buy. Beside is how it should look like. EXCEL ABC 3
Since there is a value that we do not want to be calculate together, we can t use the sum formula. In this situation we will use the sumif formula. To get the total value of selected items in a list, 1. From the formula tab we go to the Maths & Trig icon 2. Select the sumif 3. The function argument will pop up Once you are more with the formula, you can simply key in the formula. The formula will be =sumif( Range of citeria, Citeria, Sum range ) 4. For the range, we select the range that allows us to differentiate or criteria. In this case, it will be the to buy range. (Cell C2:C4) 5. For the criteria, we will select Yes. Since we want to only sum the total of all the yes items. 6. Lastly is the Sum_range, this will be the range we want Excel to calculate (Cell D2:D4) EXCEL ABC 4
Average If you need to find the average of the value Scenario 4 We are given the supermarkets total sales for 3 months. We are task to find out the average sales did they make per month. To calculate the average of the total sales 1. Click the arrow at the AutoSum in the formulas tab 2. From the drop down click the Average It s easier to simply key in the formula, =Average(range of cell) EXCEL ABC 5
Count There are times in which we will need to count the total number of cells. It only works for numeric value. Scenario 5 You are given a list of delivery. You are tasked to find out the total number of deliveries for today. To find the total number of deliveries for the day, we will use the count formula Counta 1. Click the arrow at the AutoSum in the formulas tab 2. From the drop down click the Count Number It s easier to simply key in the formula, =Count(range of cell) Counta counts the number of non-empty cells. As count only works for numeric values, I would usually use counta to count the number of cells. To use counta, Simply key in the formula, =Counta(range of cell) EXCEL ABC 6
Min And Max The min and max formula are literally, the minimum of the range and maximum of the range. Scenario 6 The supermaket is wondering what is the minimum and maximum sales value they achieved within the 3 months. 1. Click the arrow at the AutoSum in the formulas tab 2. From the drop down click the Min or Max depending on the situation. It s easier to simply key in the formula, =Min(range of cell) or Max(Range of cell) EXCEL ABC 7
Concatenate To join 2 or more cells together. Scenario 7 At times the first name and last name are in separate cells, then we will need to combine them together. 1. I would recommend that we use key in the formula to do the concatenation. 2. The formula can be activate using the & sign. 3. See the example at the side, note the (Space). This is to ensure that there is a space between the First Name and Last Name. 4. If the (Space) is not added, the Full name of Max Stone will be MaxStone. EXCEL ABC 8
Vlookup This is the most used formula. Vlookup is basically a way to look up for a specific value from reference data. Conditions for vlookup 1. There must be something common in both the query and the reference data. 2. The common data must be in the left of the data you want 3. Vlookup works best when the common data is numeric values. The above might be confusing, let me explain with a scenario. Scenario 8 You are task to find if out what is the employment type of each sales man and what is their sales value. Lists There are 2 list. In list 1, the data has the sales man id number and if they are full time or part time. In list 2, the data has the sales man id number and the sales value they achieve. List 1 Sale Man ID Employment Type 1234 Full Time 1235 Full Time 1236 Full Time 1237 Full Time 1238 Full Time 1239 Full Time 1240 Full Time For the 2 list the common data is Sale Man Id. List 2 Sale Man ID Sales Value 1234 $ 15,000 1235 $ 17,000 1236 $ 35,000 1237 $ 25,000 1238 $ 9,000 1239 $ 6,000 1240 $ 5,000 EXCEL ABC 9
To execute vlookup, 1. From the formula tab we go to the Lookup & References icon 2. Select the vlookup 3. The function argument will pop up Lookup_Array 1. The lookup array will be the common data between the 2 lists. For this scenario, it will be the sale man ID. Table_Array 2. The table array is the list you are checking against. 3. The common data (sale man id) must be on the left most side. EXCEL ABC 10
Col_index_num 4. The col index num is the column number from the common data (Sale man ID) 5. In this case, it will be 2 as we will always consider the common data (Sale man ID) as column number Range_lookup 6. The range lookup is asking if we want the common data to be an exact match or will a close match suffice. 7. I would recommend an exact match hence key in False. 8. If you want a close match, key in True. End result 9. By dragging the formula down, we will get the result as shown beside. 10. In the event a #N/A is shown, this mean the item is not present in the common data. EXCEL ABC 11
Index Match This is an alternative for vlookup. Index match is more robust that vlookup as it can search in both directions and works well with non-numeric values. Scenario 9 We are given a customer list. We are task to find out who is from Brazil. Name Age Salary Country 1. To use the index match formula Red Green Blue 34 46 25 $ $ $ 5,000 8,000 3,500 Thailand America Brazil a. After the index (the result we want) b. Match formula is very similar to the vlookup Who is from i. The first array after match is the Brazil Blue lookup array. For this example, it Formula =INDEX(A2:A4,MATCH(B7,D2:D4,0)) will be B7 (Brazil) ii. The second array is the table array. For this example, it is the range (D2:D4). iii. Lastly is the match type, we will use 0. (0 will give us an exact match) c. To summarize the formula for index match i. =Index(Array,Match(Lookup_array,table_array,match_type)) EXCEL ABC 12
IF The If function is used for determined whether an argument is true or false. Scenario 10 We are given the sale man s sale value and their sales target. Determine if they hit or miss the target. 1. From the formula tab we go to the Logical icon 2. Select the if 3. The function argument will pop up Logical Test This can literally be any argument you want it to be. 1. For this scenario, we would like to check if the sales value > Sales Target. 2. If it s true, we indicate it as hit. 3. If it s false, we indicate it as a miss. The End Result Hit or Sale Man ID Sales Value Sales target Miss Target 1234 $ 15,000 $ 10,000 Hit 1235 $ 17,000 $ 15,000 Hit 1236 $ 35,000 $ 50,000 Miss 1237 $ 25,000 $ 45,000 Miss 1238 $ 9,000 $ 5,000 Hit 1239 $ 6,000 $ 7,000 Miss 1240 $ 5,000 $ 3,000 Hit 4. By dragging the formula down, we will get the result as shown beside. EXCEL ABC 13
The End Thank you for reading this Ebook. We hope that this will help you understand the basic formulas that will be use for work. Stay Tune for our advance ebook, it will be covering Pivot Tables and Charts. EXCEL ABC 14