The Function

Functions are prewritten formulas. Functions differ from regular formulas in that you supply the value but not the operators, such as +, -, *, or /. For example, you can use the SUM function to add. When using a function, remember the following:

•Use an equal sign to begin a formula.•Specify the function name.•Enclose arguments within parentheses. Arguments are values on which you want to perform the calculation. For example, arguments specify the numbers or cells you want to add.•Use a comma to separate arguments.

Here is an example of a function:=SUM(2,13,A1,B2:C7)

=SUM(2,13,A1,B2:C7)

The equal sign begins the function.

SUM is the name of the function.

2, 13, A1, and B2:C7 are the arguments.

Parentheses enclose the arguments.

Commas separate the arguments.

Mathematical FunctionsSUM - Adds up all the values in a rangeSUMIF - Adds all the values in a range that meet specific criteriaSUMIFS (2007 and 2010 only) - Adds values in a range based on multiple criteriaSUMPRODUCT - Sum a range of cells that meet multiple criteriaROUND - Round a number to a specified number of digitsROUNDUP - Round a number up to a specified number of digitsROUNDDOWN - Round a number down to a specified number of digitsCEILING - Round a number up to a multiple of significanceFLOOR - Round a number down to a multiple of significance

List of Functions and description

Statistical FunctionsCOUNT - Counts all the values in a rangeAVERAGE - Calculates the average number from a range of valuesMAX - Finds the maximum value in a rangeMIN - Finds the minimum value in a rangeCOUNTA - Counts all non-empty cells in a rangeCOUNTBLANK - Counts all blank cells in a rangeCOUNTIF - Counts all the cells in a range that meet specific criteraCOUNTIFS (2007 and 2010 only) - Counts all the cells in a range that meet multiple criteriaAVERAGEIF (2007 and 2010 only) - Calculates the average of a range of values that meet specific criteriaAVERAGEIFS (2007 and 2010 only) - Calculates the average of a range of values that meet multiple criteriaLARGE - Return a value dependent upon its ranking in a range of values in descending orderSMALL - Return a value dependent upon its ranking in a range of values in ascending orderRANK - Returns the rank or position of a number within a range of numbers

Text FunctionsLEN - Returns the length, in number of characters, of the contents of a cellREPT - Repeats a character a specified number of timesTRIM - Remove unwanted spaces from cellsLEFT - Extracts a specific number of characters from the start of a cellRIGHT - Extracts a specific number of characters from the end of a cellMID - Extracts a specific number of characters from the middle of a cellUPPER - Converts the contents of a cell to uppercaseLOWER - Converts the contents of a cell to lowercasePROPER - Converts the contents of a cell to proper caseREPLACE - Replace existing characters in a cell with a different set of charactersSUBSTITUTE - Replace existing characters with a different set of characters

Financial FunctionsPMT - Calculates loan repayments based on constant payments and a constant interest rateRATE - Returns the interest rate per period of a loan or investmentPV - Returns the present value of an investment based on a constant interest rate and paymentsFV - Returns the future value of an investment based on constant payments and a constant interest rateIPMT - Calculates the interest paid during a period of a loan or investmentPPMT - Calculates the principal payment made in a period of an investmentIRR - Returns the internal rate of return on a series of regular investmentsXIRR - Returns the internal rate of return on a series of irregular payments on an investmentNPV - Returns the net present value of an investment based on a series of cash flows and a discount rateXNPV - Returns the net present value of an investment based on a series of cash flows, the dates of the cash flows and a discount rate

Logical FunctionsIF - Tests a condition and takes an alternative action depending on the resultAND - Test up to 30 conditions using logical AndOR - Test up to 30 conditions using logical OrIFERROR - Performs a specified action if a formula evaluates to an error, and displays the formula result if not

Date & Time FunctionsTODAY - Returns the current dateNOW - Returns the current date and timeDATE - Returns the sequential serial number for the specified date and formats the result as a dateDAY - Returns the day corresponding to a date represented by a number between 1 and 31

MONTH - Returns the month corresponding to a date represented by a number between 1 and 12YEAR - Returns the year corresponding to a date represented by a number in the range 1900 to 9999WORKDAY - Returns the date a specified number of workings days before or after a dateWEEKDAY - Returns the day of the week corresponding to a specified dateNETWORKDAYS - Returns the number of workdays between two datesEOMONTH - Calculates the last day of the month a specified number of months before or after a dateDownload the Excel Formulas Ebook for a fast and simple guide to the most useful Excel formulas.

The IF Function in Excel 2007

•The IF function can be quite useful in a spreadsheet.

•It is used when you want to test for more than one value

Syntax:

IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false,)

Example:

=IF(A1 > 5, "Greater than Five", "Less than Five")

Example:

=IF(A1 > 5, "Greater than Five", "Less than Five")

List of Conditional Operator

<      Less Than >=    Greater than Or Equal To<=    Less than Or Equal To<>    Not Equal To

Another Example:

=IF(A1 >= 5, "Greater than or Equal to Five", "Less than Five")

=IF(B2>=80, "A", IF(B2>=60, "B", IF(B2>=45, "C", IF(B2 >=30, "D", "Fail" ) ) ) )

Complex If Functions

The CHOOSE Function in Excel 2007

The Choose function returns a value from a list of values based on a given position. The syntax for the Choose function is:

Choose( position, value1, value2, ... value29 )

A example of using Choose would be

=Choose(1,"Cars","Boats","Planes") - would return Cars=Choose(2,"Cars","Boats","Planes") - would return Boats=Choose(3,"Cars","Boats","Planes") - would return Planes

The syntax for the CONCATENATE function is: = CONCATENATE ( text1, text2, ... text255 )