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Formula vs Function in Excel

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8 views

Formula vs Function in Excel

Uploaded by

Raghavan AR
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Formula vs Function in Excel –

What’s the Difference?


 -- By Sumit Bansal

Many Excel users use the terms ‘Formula’ and ‘Function’


interchangeably.

While this does no harm in most cases, it’s good to have a proper
understanding of what a formula is and what a function is in Excel.

And, of course, it is going to give you a lot of opportunities to correct


others and brag about your own Excel knowledge (if you’re into that
kind of fun)

In this article, I will explain the difference between formula and


function in Excel (with examples)
This Tutorial Covers:

 What is a Formula in Excel?

 What is a Function in Excel?

 Difference Between Formula and Function in Excel

What is a Formula in Excel?


Whenever you enter an equal-to sign (=) in a cell in Excel, which is
followed by cell references, operators, numbers, etc., it would be
considered a formula.

So any equation that you enter into a cell in Excel (that starts with
an equal-to sign) would be called a formula.
Below are some examples of Formulas in Excel:

=1+2

In the above example, I’m using a simple addition operator to add 2


numbers. And since I’m using numbers and an arithmetic operator
after the equal to sign, this is a formula

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=A1+D3

In the example, I have used two cell references to add the values in
these two cells. This, again, is your formula

=SUM(A1:A10)

In the above example, I have used the sum function to get the sum
of values in the range A1:A10. This, again, is an example of a
formula (and interestingly, uses the SUM function)

Advanced Excel Tip: While the norm is to start an excel formula


with an equal-to sign, you can also use a + instead of an equal-to
sign. However, I would request you to stick to the equal to sign just
to avoid any confusion
Also read: Absolute, Relative, and Mixed Cell References in Excel

What is a Function in Excel?


A function is a pre-defined formula in Excel that takes some
arguments as the input and gives us the result.

An example of a function in Excel is the SUM function.


The SUM function can take multiple values, multiple cell references,
or multiple ranges as the input and would give us the sum of all the
values in these input arguments.

For example. =SUM(A1:A10) would give us the sum of all the


values within the range A1:A10.

While a cell in Excel can only have one formula, the formula itself
can consist of multiple functions.

Below is an example:

=SUM(A1:A10) + AVERAGE(A1:A10)

The above formula uses two functions (SUM and AVERAGE), and it
returns a value where it adds the values returned by the sum
function and the average function.
Every Excel function has a specific syntax that you need to follow.
There are mandatory and optional arguments that can be used in
the function, and a specific data type is expected as the resulting
output. For example, while the SUM function is expected to return a
numeric value, the TEXT function is expected to return a text value.
You can find the most common Excel functions and their syntax
here
Difference Between Formula and
Function in Excel
Now that you have a good understanding of the difference between
a formula and a function in excel, below is the table that will give
you a head-on comparison between these two.
Formula Function

A Function is a predefined formula that


Anything you enter in a cell after an equal to
takes several arguments and returns a
sign would be considered a formula
result

The formula in the cell in Excel can have


One cell can only have one formula in it
multiple functions

A formula may or may not use any of the If you use a function in a cell in Excel, it
functions in Excel will always be a part of the formula

A function has a predefined syntax,


A user can design a formula that can use
which specifies the number of mandatory
multiple operators as well as multiple
and optional arguments as well as the
functions
type of arguments that can be used

If you have gone through the above article, I’m sure you now realize
that formula and function are two different things in Excel.

However, you’ll still find that these are used interchangeably by


many people in verbal and written communications.

So if you find someone using the terms formula or function


incorrectly, feel free to politely correct them (or refer them to this
article)

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