Fachhochschule Sdwestfalen

We create momentum

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst

Lakshmi Narayanan Ruppa
Excel Course
Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling
1 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Contents

1. Functions
1.1 rand, randbetween
1.2 max, min, round
1.3 average, sum, sumif
1.4 iferror, isblank, iserror
1.5 count, counta, countblank, countif
1.6 if, or, and
2. Nested Functions

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

2 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Functions: General Form

All functions begin with the = symbol

There are 3 parts in a function:
equal sign =
Function
Syntax: it is made up of one or more arguments
A typical function looks like this:
= FUNCTION(argument1,argument2,[argument3])

Syntax

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

3 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Functions

Function

Description

rand

Generates a random real

number between 0 and 1

randbetween

Generates a random real

number between specified
numbers

Syntax

Example

=rand()

=rand()*3; generates a
random number
between 0 and 3

=randbetween(bottom,
top)

=randbetween(5,100)

TIP: After generating the numbers with these functions, always use Paste special to
make the generated numbers stable.
Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling
4 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Functions

Function

Description

Syntax

Example

max

Produces the maximum of a

range of numbers

=max(range)

=max(A1:A10)

Produces the minimum of a

range of numbers

=min(range)

=min(A1:A10)

Rounds off the number to

specific number of digits

=round(number,num_d
igits)

=round(A1,2)

min

round

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

5 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Functions

Function

Description

Syntax

Example

average

Produces the average of

the data in a range of cells

=average(range)

=average(A1:A10)

sum

Produces the sum of the

data in a range of cells

=sum(range)

=sum(A1:A10)

sumif

Produces the sum of the

cells in a range if any cells
in a second range meet a
selection criterion

=sumif(range,criteria,
[sum_range])

=sumif(A1:A10,>50,B1:B10)

TIP: Use double quotes to type a text after = or inside a function as =text
Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling
6 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Functions

Function

Description

Syntax

Example

isblank

Checks if the cell is blank

and returns TRUE or FALSE

=isblank(value)

=isblank(A1)

=iserror(value)

=iserror(A1)

=iferror(value,value_
if_error)

=iferror(A1,True); produces
A1 in case of no error and
True in case of error

iserror

iferror

Checks if the cell has an

error and returns TRUE or
FALSE

Checks for error in the cell

and produces the specified
value in case of an error

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

7 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Functions

Function

Description

Syntax

Example

count

Counts the number of nonempty cells in a given range.

Works only with numbers

=count(range)

=count(A1:A10)

counta

Counts the number of nonempty cells in a given range.

Works with both text and
numbers

=counta(range)

=counta(A1:A10)

countblank

Counts the number of blank

cells in a given range.

=countblank(range)

=countblank(A1:A10)

countif

Count the number of cells in

a range that meet a specified
criteria

=countif(range,criteria)

=countif(A1:A10,>50)

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

8 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Functions

Function

Description

Syntax

Example

if

Provides the basis for a

decision; if condition is met,
one answer is returned; if
condition is not met, another
answer is returned

=if(logical_test,
[value_if_true],
[value_if_false])

=if(A1>10,yes,no)

or

Returns a logical TRUE

response if one or more
arguments are true;
otherwise returns false

=or(logical1,[logical2],)

=or(A1>100,A1<120)

and

Returns a logical TRUE

response if all of its
arguments are true;
otherwise returns false

=and(logical1,[logical2],)

=and(A1>10,A2>15,A3
>20)

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

9 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Nested Functions

Combining one or more functions

Nested ifs, if and, if or
Nested ifs
In a 3 point grading system, above 90% is awarded 1, 50-90% is awarded 2 and below
50% is awarded 3.

= IF(A1>90,1,IF(A1>50,2,3))

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

10 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Nested Functions

If and
Out of the two assignments, if both of them are above 90%, then Outstanding,
otherwise an Ordinary performance

= IF(AND(A1>90,B1>90),"Outstanding","Average")
If or
Out of the two assignments, if one of them is less than 80%, then repeat both
assignments

= IF(OR(A1<80,B1<80),"Repeat","Pass")

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

11 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016

Lets Practice!

Prof. Dr. Valerie Wulfhorst I Business Administration Focus on Controlling

12 I Excel Course I Week 2 I SS 2016