Cell References & Name Manager:

The absolute reference of a cell can be given by the intersection of the Column and Row to which it belongs i.e.
A3 or C54 and so on
The cells can also be referred to by using names instead of their absolute Column and Row addresses
- To name a cell or a cell range, go to Formulas tab on the Excel ribbon at the top and select "Name Manager"
and enter the name you would like to use for that cell or cell range; Another way to name cells is using the Name
cell right beneath the excel ribbon in the top left of your excel window
- The keyboard shortcut to open the Name Manager is "Ctrl+F3"
- The method explained above only names the cells or ranges on a static basis
- One can also choose to enter a formula in the Name Manager to assign the names to cells or ranges on a
dynamic basis
- Please check the Offset function which is the most commoly used function to name cells on a dynamic basis
- In addition to entering the cells in the name manager, you can also explore the button "Create from Selection"

Function Name

Functionality

Match

Returns the position of lookup

value in the data array

Vlookup

Returns a corresponding value to

the lookup values stored in a
column from the selected data
array

Hlookup

Returns a corresponding value to

the lookup values stored in a row
from the selected data array

Index

Returns a cell value or an array

from the selected data array by
determining the cross section of
the row and column

Offset

Returns a cell value or an array

with the help of an anchor cell
and traversing from the anchor
cell in any direction with the help
of row number and column
number

Syntax

Match(
Prameter1-Value to be looked up,
Parameter2-Data Array from which the value has to be
looked up,
Paramter3- Match Type)

Vlookup(
Parameter1 - Value to be looked up
Parameter2 - Data array for lookup
Parameter3 - Column index Number
Parameter4 - Match Type)

Hlookup(
Parameter1 - Value to be looked up
Parameter2 - Data array for lookup
Parameter3 - Row index Number
Parameter4 - Match Type)

Index(
Parameter1 - Data Array for Lookup
Parameter2 - Row Number
Parameter3 - Column Number)

Offset(
Parameter1 - Anchor cell
Parameter2 - Number of rows to be traversed
Parameter3 - Number of columns to be traversed
Parameter4 - Optional in case of locating a cell, no of
rows to be returned in case an array is to be returned
Parameter5 - Optional in case of locating a cell with
default value 1, no of columns to be returned in case an
array is to be returned

Details of Parameters
Lookup value - can take either numeric or text variables
Data Array - Array should be either a row or column, for ex- A3:A15 or
A3:I3, ranges like A3:I15 would result in an error
Match Type - This parameter can take three values
0 for exact match
1 for a match less than the lookup value, data array has to be sorted in
ascending order for the match to work correctly in this case
-1 for a match less than the lookup value, data array has to be sorted in
descending order for the match to work correctly in this case
Lookup value - can take either numeric or text variables
Data Array - Array can have more than or equal to 1 column
Column index Number - Position of the column from which the result has
to be shown in the given data array, lookup column being the column 1
Match Type - Can take two values
0 for an exact match
1 for a match less than the lookup value, data array has to be sorted in
ascending order by column 1 of the array
Lookup value - can take either numeric or text variables
Data Array - Array can have more than or equal to 1 row
Column index Number - Position of the row from which the result has to be
shown in the given data array, lookup row being the row 1 of selected array
Match Type - Can take two values
0 for an exact match
1 for a match less than the lookup value, data array has to be sorted in
ascending order by row 1 of the array

Data Array - Any data array containing either numeric or text variables
Row Number - The row in which the intended result is stored in the given
array
For the index to return an entire column, this parameter shall be set as 0
Column Number - The column in which the intended result is stored in the
given array
For the index to return an entire row, this parameter shall be set as 0

Anchor cell - Acts as the reference point/origin for the data array

Additional Notes

Index has two forms. The form

explained here is the most
commonly used one. For the
second form of Index, please
refer to excel help.

Offset function with the help of

match and variants of count
function can help in defining
dynamic name ranges in a
worksheet and hence is the most
powerful lookup function

Function Name

Functionality

Left

Returns a substring from the

string from left

Right

Returns a substring from the

string from right

Mid

Returns a substring from the

string from anywhere

Trim

Removes spaces from the start

and end of the string

Concatenate

Combines multiple strings to

return a single string

& Operator

Same as concatenate function

Find

Finds a particular substring

within a string a return the
position of the substring In form
of a number, more like match
within a string instead of an
array

Search

Same as Find, The only

difference is that Search is not
case sensitive where as Find is

Len

Returns the length of a string

Syntax
Left(
String,
Number of characters)
Right(
String,
Number of characters)
Mid(
String,
Starting position,
Number of characters
)
Trim(
String
)
Concatenate(
String1, String2
)
String1&String2
Find(
Substring to be searched,
String in which the substring shall be searched,
Starting position in the string from which the substring
should be searched
)
Search(
Substring to be searched,
String in which the substring shall be searched,
Starting position in the string from which the substring
should be searched
)
Len(String)

Details of Parameters
Number of characters - A number for the number of characters in
substring to be returned
Number of characters - A number for the number of characters in
substring to be returned

Starting Position - Position in the string from where you want to cut it
Number of characters - Same as explained for Left & Right

Spaces in between the string cannot be removed using this function

Starting Position - Position in the string from where you want the substring
to be searched

Starting Position - Position in the string from where you want the substring
to be searched

Additional Notes

Function Name

Date

Date Value

Day
Month

Functionality
Returns the number that
represents a date in Excel's date
code, given year, month and
date of the day separately
Returns the number that
represents a date in Excel's date
code, given a date that is stored
as text
Returns the day of a given date
(1-31)
Returns the month of a given
date (1-12)

Year

Returns the year of a given date

Today

Returns the current system date

Weekday

Returns the day number in a

week of the given date (1-7)

Weeknum

Returns the week number of the

given date (1-53)

Time

Returns the time of the given

hour, minute and second values

Time Value
Second
Minute
Hour
Now

Returns the Excel-code for a

given time text
(0 to 0.99999999)
Returns the Second value of the
given time
Returns the Minute value of the
given time
Returns the Hour value of the
given time
Returns the current system date
and time

Edate

Returns the date after a

specified number of months
from the specified date

Eomonth

Returns the end date of the

month after a specified number
of months from the specified
date

Syntax

DATE(year,month,day)

DATEVALUE(date_text)

Day(Date)
Month(Date)
Year(Date)
Today()

Weekday(Date, Type)

Weeknum(Date,Type)

Time(Hour,Minute,Second)

Timevalue(Time_text)
Second(Time)
Minute(Time)
Hour(Time)
Now()

Edate(Startdate,Months)

Eomonth(Startdate,Months)

Details of Parameters
Year - Year of the date for which the excel date code is required
Month - Month of the date (1-12)
Day - Date (1-31)

date_text - Date that is in the form of text or a reference to the cell where
date is stored as text
Date - Date can be either be in the form of Excel date code or the usual
system date format
Date - Date can be either be in the form of Excel date code or the usual
system date format
Date - Date can be either be in the form of Excel date code or the usual
system date format
None required
Date - Date can be either be in the form of Excel date code or the usual
system date format
1 or omitted Numbers - 1 (Sunday) through 7 (Saturday).
2 - Numbers 1 (Monday) through 7 (Sunday).
3 - Numbers 0 (Monday) through 6 (Sunday).
11 - Numbers 1 (Monday) through 7 (Sunday).
12 - Numbers 1 (Tuesday) through 7 (Monday).
13 - Numbers 1 (Wednesday) through 7 (Tuesday).
14 - Numbers 1 (Thursday) through 7 (Wednesday).
15 - Numbers 1 (Friday) through 7 (Thursday).
16 - Numbers 1 (Saturday) through 7 (Friday).
17 - Numbers 1 (Sunday) through 7 (Saturday).
Date - Date can be either be in the form of Excel date code or the usual
system date format
1 or omitted - Week begins on Sunday
2 - Week begins on Monday
11 - Week begins on Monday
12 - Week begins on Tuesday
13 - Week begins on Wednesday
14 - Week begins on Thursday
15 - Week begins on Friday
16 - Week begins on Saturday
17 - Week begins on Sunday
Hour - Hour of the required time
Minute - Minute of the required time
Second - Second of the minute time

Additional Notes

Time_text - Time in the form of text or time stored in a cell in text format
(e.g 12:30 AM)
Time - Time can be in the form of Excel-time code or usual time format
Time - Time can be in the form of Excel-time code or usual time format
Time - Time can be in the form of Excel-time code or usual time format
None required
Startdate - Date in dateformat (use date() function to get the date format
right)
Month - Months after/before which the output date is required. Positive
indicates future time period, Negative indicates past.
Startdate - Date in dateformat (use date() function to get the date format
right)
Month - Months after/before which the output date is required. Positive
indicates future time period, Negative indicates past.

Function Name

Functionality

PMT

Returns the monthly EMI to be

paid

PPMT

Returns the Principal component

of the EMI paid in a specific
period

IPMT

Returns the Interest component

of the EMI paid in a specific
period

NPER

Returns the number of time

periods required to pay off a
loan, for a given amount of EMI

RATE

Returns the rate of interest for

given EMI and repayment time
period

PV

Returns the original loan

amount, given EMI, repayment
period and rate of interest

FV

Returns the future value of the

loan, after given time period,
paid at given rate of interest and
given EMI

NPV

Returns the Net present value of

a given series of cash flows

IRR

Returns the rate of return of a

given series of cash flows

Syntax

PMT(Rate,nper,pv,[fv],[type])

PPMT(Rate,per,nper,pv,[fv],[type])

IPMT(Rate,per,nper,pv,[fv],[type])

Nper(Rate,pmt,pv,[fv],[type])

Rate(Nper,pmt,pv,[fv],[type])

PV(Rate,Nper,pmt,[fv],[type])

FV(Rate,Nper,pmt,[pv],[type])

NPV(Rate,Value1,Value2.)

IRR(Values,[Guess])

Details of Parameters
Rate - Rate of Interest (Annual rate/12)
Nper - Number of periods for the repayment of loan (Years * 12)
PV - Present value of the loan amount (Principal)
FV - (optional parameter) Value of the remaining amount to be paid at the
end of the periods (nper)
Type - 0 or omitted - payments to be made at the end of the each period,
1 - payments to be made at the beginning of the period
Rate - Rate of Interest (Annual rate/12)
Per - Indicates the current period for which Prinicipal component has to be
calculated
Nper - Number of periods for the repayment of loan (Years * 12)
PV - Present value of the loan amount (Principal)
FV - (optional parameter) Value of the remaining amount to be paid at the
end of the periods (nper)
Type - 0 or omitted - payments to be made at the end of the each period,
1 - payments to be made at the beginning of the period
Rate - Rate of Interest (Annual rate/12)
Per - Indicates the current period for which Prinicipal component has to be
calculated
Nper - Number of periods for the repayment of loan (Years * 12)
PV - Present value of the loan amount (Principal)
FV - (optional parameter) Value of the remaining amount to be paid at the
end of the periods (nper)
Type - 0 or omitted - payments to be made at the end of the each period,
1 - payments to be made at the beginning of the period
Rate - Rate of Interest (Annual rate/12)
Pmt - Amount paid each month as EMI
PV - Present value of the loan amount (Principal)
FV - (optional parameter) Value of the remaining amount to be paid at the
end of the periods (nper)
Type - 0 or omitted - payments to be made at the end of the each period,
1 - payments to be made at the beginning of the period
Nper - Number of periods for the repayment of loan (Years * 12)
Pmt - Amount paid each month as EMI
PV - Present value of the loan amount (Principal)
FV - (optional parameter) Value of the remaining amount to be paid at the
end of the periods (nper)
Type - 0 or omitted - payments to be made at the end of the each period,
1 - payments to be made at the beginning of the period

Additional Notes
The same formula can be used to
evaluate annual EMI values. The
only change would be Nper Number of years instead of
months and Rate - Annual rate
instead of monthly)

For EMI, each month Principal

component varies. It is lowest in
the first month and highest in the
last month

For EMI, each month Interest

component varies. It is highest in
the first month and lowest in the
last month

Rate - Rate of Interest (Annual rate/12)

Nper - Number of periods for the repayment of loan (Years * 12)
Pmt - Amount paid each month as EMI
FV - (optional parameter) Value of the remaining amount to be paid at the
end of the periods (nper)
Type - 0 or omitted - payments to be made at the end of the each period,
1 - payments to be made at the beginning of the period
Rate - Rate of Interest (Annual rate/12)
Nper - Number of periods for the repayment of loan (Years * 12)
Pmt - Amount paid each month as EMI
If PV is omitted, PMT is required
PV - (optional parameter) Value of the loan amount to be paid at the end
and vice-versa
of the periods (nper)
Type - 0 or omitted - payments to be made at the end of the each period,
1 - payments to be made at the beginning of the period
Rate - Risk-free rate or Inflation rate or Discount rate
Values - Cash flows (Positive and Negative)
Values - Cash flows (At least one Positive and Negative)
Guess - (optional parameter) Estimated IRR value, so that Excel can start
iteration from that value to identify the exact IRR