ERROR INDICATORS

You need to know the error indicators in the spreadsheet. How will you know how to solve a
problem if you receive an error indicator and you do not know the meaning?

Explain the meaning of each of the following error indicators.

####### Cell too small.

#NAME! Text in the formula is not recognized.
#DIV/0! Trying to divide by 0.
#REF! A reference is invalid.
#N/A A formula or a function inside a formula cannot find the referenced data.
#VALUE! The wrong type of operand or function argument is used.
#NUM! A formula has invalid numeric data for the type of operation.
#NULL A space was used in formulas that reference multiple ranges; a comma
separates range references.

FUNCTIONS

MIN Purpose Get the minimum value in a range

Return value The minimum value in the array
Example

MAX Purpose Get the maximum/largest value

Return value The maximum/largest value in the array
Example

RAND Purpose Get a random number between 0 and 1

Return value A number between 1 and 0
Example
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TODAY Purpose Get the current date

NOW Return value A serial number presenting a particular date in Excel.
There are no arguments to enter for the =TODAY() or
=NOW() functions. Both of these date functions draw their
data from the computer's built-in clock. Computers store the
date as a number representing the number of full days since
midnight January 1, 1900 plus the number of hours, minutes,
and seconds for the current day. This number is called a
serial date.

The TODAY function returns the current date.

The NOW function returns both the current date and time.
Examples

MODE Purpose Get the mode of a group numbers. The MODE function
returns the mode (most frequently occurring number) in a
group of supplied arguments.
Return value A number representing the mode
Example

MEDIAN Purpose Get the median of a group of numbers. The MEDIAN

function returns the median (middle number) in a group of
supplied arguments.
Return value A number representing the median
Example

AVERAGE Purpose Get the average of a group of numbers

Return value A number representing the average
Example

MEAN Purpose The mean most commonly refers to the arithmetic mean.
The term ‘average’ is used to express that something is
statistically the norm. It would mean that a value is
expected, middle, usual or common. The mean is only a form
of describing an average.

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ROUND Purpose Round a number to a given number of digits

Return value A rounded number
Example

ROUNDDOWN Purpose Round a number down to a given number of digits. The

ROUNDDOWN function works like the ROUND function
except that when rounding, the ROUNDDOWN function will
always round the numbers 1-9 down.
Return value A rounded number
Example

ROUNDUP Purpose Round a number up to a given number of digits. The

ROUNDUP function works like the ROUND function except
that when rounding, the ROUNDUP function will always
round the numbers 1-9 up.
Return value A rounded number
Example

SMALL Purpose Get the nth smallest value. The SMALL function is useful
when you want to retrieve "lowest" values from a set of
data. For example, the first, second, and third lowest marks
for the exams.
Return value The nth smallest value in the array.
Example

LARGE Purpose Get the nth largest value. The LARGE function is useful when
you want to retrieve "top" values from a set of data. For
example, the first, second, and third results in a competition.
Return value The nth largest value in the array
Example

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COUNTIF Purpose Count cells that match criteria

Return value A number representing cells counted
Example

ONE criterion

COUNTIFS Purpose Count cells that match multiple criteria

Return value The number of times criteria are met
Example

MULTIPLE criteria

SUM Purpose Add numbers together

Return value The sum of values supplied
Example

SUMIF Purpose Sum numbers in a range that meet supplied criteria

Return value The sum of values supplied
Example

SUMIFS Purpose Sum cells that match multiple criteria. The SUMIFS function
extends the usefulness of the SUMIF function by allowing
you to specify from 2 to 127 criteria rather than just one as
in SUMIF. The SUMIF function combines the IF function and
SUM function in Excel. This combination allows you to add
up those values in a selected range of data that meets
specific criteria.
The IF portion of the function determines what data meets
the specified criteria and the SUM part does the addition.
Return value The sum of the cells that meet all criteria
Example

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COUNT Purpose Count cells with numbers in a range

Return value A number representing a count of numbers
Example

COUNTBLANK Purpose Count cells that are blank

Return value A number representing blank cells
Example

COUNTA Return value Count number of cells that are not empty
Example

POWER Purpose Returns the result of a number raised to a power

Return value A raised number
Example

RELATIONAL OPERATORS

A relational operator compares two operands to determine whether one is greater than, greater
than or equal to, less than, less than or equal to the other:
> greater than
>= greater than or equal to
< less than
<= less than or equal to

WHAT IS A CIRCULAR REFERENCE

A circular reference occurs in Excel when a formula contains a cell reference to

the cell containing the formula itself. An example of this type of circular
reference would be if the formula =B4 + B5 was located in cell B5.

IF STATEMENT

The Excel IF function tests a user-defined condition and returns one result if the condition is true,
and another result if the condition is false.

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CONDITIONAL FORMATTING

Use conditional formatting to create rules (conditions) for when and how specific cells are
formatted. For example, make cells red, if an expiry date has passed, or color cells green, if they
match numbers in a lottery draw.

RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE CELL REFERENCING

There are two types of cell references: relative and absolute. Relative and absolute references
behave differently when copied and filled to other cells. Relative references change when a formula
is copied to another cell. Absolute references, on the other hand, remain constant, no matter where
they are copied.

By default, all cell references are relative references. When copied across multiple cells, they change
based on the relative position of rows and columns. There may be times when you do not want a cell
reference to change when filling cells. Unlike relative references, absolute references do not change
when copied or filled. You can use an absolute reference to keep a row and/or column constant.

An absolute reference is designated in a formula by the addition of a dollar sign ($). It can precede
the column reference, the row reference, or both.

VLOOKUP AND HLOOKUP

• Both lookup functions can be used to help you find specific data located in a database or list of
data.
• The difference between the two functions lies in how your data is organized in your
spreadsheets.
• If the data is organized in columns you would use VLOOKUP.
• If the data is kept in rows, you would use HLOOKUP.
• VLOOKUP searches down the leftmost column of a table for a match and returns a value from a
column to the right of the match on the same row.
• HLOOKUP searches left to right across a row of entries for a match and returns a value from a
row below the column the match was found in.

TEXT FUNCTIONS

LEFT Extracts one or more characters from the left side of a text string.

RIGHT Extracts one or more characters from the right side of a text string.

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MID Extracts characters from the middle of a text string; you specify which character
position to start from and how many characters to include

CONCATENATE Assembles two or more text strings into one

LOWER Converts a text string to all lowercase

UPPER Converts a text string to all uppercase

PROPER Converts a text string to proper case. Proper case is a combination of lower case
and capital letters.

LEN Returns a text string’s length (number of characters)

VALUE Convert text to a number and return numeric value

FIND Get the location of text in a string

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