4 IFs

Happy Boxing Day All! 

“IF” Functions are some of the most useful and easy to use tools in Excel. There are several flavors of IF to choose from, and each of them can aid you in making sense of your data. Here are my 4 Favorite Ifs:

 1.  COUNTIF: =COUNTIF(Range, Criteria) 
For the Criteria, you can specify a cell, a simple number such as 10, or use a greater-than or less-than criteria such as “>20”. Be sure to use the quotation marks if doing a great-than or less-than analysis. Alternatively, you can refer to a cell that contains your criteria number (No quotation marks needed with that approach).

 2.  SUMIF: =SUMIF(Range, Criteria, SumRange) 
The Criteria is the same as in COUNTIF, but you have the option of applying it to a “SumRange”. These are the actual cells to add if the cells in the Range match the criteria. If SumRange is omitted, the cells in Range are evaluated by criteria and added accordingly.

 3.  IF: =IF(Condition, Value If True, Value If False) 
This function is extremely valuable as a stand-alone or in conjunction with other “nested” functions. You can use cell references for the “Value If True” or the “Value If False”, or insert words (e.g. IF(A1>10, “Pass”, “Fail”). Just be sure to use quotation marks if inserting actual words. 

4.   IFERROR: =IFERROR(Value, Value If Error) 
Introduced for the first time in Excel 2007, this combines the IF and ISERROR functions, and essentially gives you greater control with potential Error Messages. Rather than just accepting the sometimes cryptic and less-than-helpful default error messages that Excel dishes out, you can Customize your error messages for more clarity.

 No IFs about it, IF functions are another great set of tools for Excel arsenal. Happy Holidays, All!