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Most people never receive proper Excel training and spend years frustrated by the simplest tasks, especially tasks that involve formulas.To use Excel with confidence, you must have a good understanding of formulas and functions. This article introduces the basic concepts you need to know to be proficient with formulas in Excel. Formulas and functions are the bread and butter of Excel. They drive almost everything interesting and useful you will ever do in a spreadsheet. This article introduces the basic concepts you need to know to be proficient with formulas in Excel. What is a formula? A formula in Excel is an expression that returns a specific result. For example: =1+2 // returns 3 =6/3 // returns 2 Note: all formulas in Excel must begin with an equals sign (=). Cell references In the examples above, values are "hardcoded". That means results won't change unless you edit the formula again and change a value manually. Generally, this is considered bad form, because it hides information and makes it harder to maintain a spreadsheet. Instead, use =A1+A2+A3 // returns 9 Notice because we are using cell references for A1, A2, and A3, these values can be changed at any time and C1 will still show an accurate result. All formulas return a result All formulas in Excel return a result, even when the result is an error. Below a formula is used to calculate percent change. The formula returns a correct result in D2 and D3, but returns a #DIV/0! error in D4, because B4 is empty: Th...

Cell Reference: While you can type values directly into formulas (as a constant), it’s possible and usually handier to pull values from other cells. An example cell reference is A1, which is the value in column A, row 1. References can be • Relative Reference: This refers to the relative position of the cell. If you use the reference A1 in your formula and change the position of the reference (for example, if you • Absolute Reference: This refers to a specific position of the cell. If you use the reference $A$1 in your formula and change the position of the reference, the formula does not update automatically. • Mixed Reference: This refers to a relative column and absolute row or vice versa. For instance, if you use A$1 or $A1 in your formula and change the position of the reference, the formula only updates for the relative column or row automatically. Constant: You can think of a constant as an inserted value. This is a value that you enter directly into the formula instead of or in addition to a cell reference. For example, instead of using A1 in the formula, you might use its value—15. • Arithmetic Operators: These include an asterisk for multiplication and a plus sign for addition. • Comparison Operators: These include a greater than, less than, and equal sign. • Reference Operators: These include a colon to designate a cell range as in A1:A5 and a comma to combine multiple cell ranges as in A1:A5,B1:5. Parentheses: Like in an algebra equation, you may use parenthese...

Note: Formulas in Excel always begin with the equal sign. • Select a cell or type its address in the selected cell. • Enter an operator. For example, – for subtraction. • Select the next cell, or type its address in the selected cell. • Press Enter. The result of the calculation appears in the cell with the formula. See a formula • When a formula is entered into a cell, it also appears in the Formula bar. • To see a formula, select a cell, and it will appear in the formula bar. Enter a formula that contains a built-in function • Select an empty cell. • Type an equal sign = and then type a function. For example, =SUM for getting the total sales. • Type an opening parenthesis (. • Select the range of cells, and then type a closing parenthesis). • Press Enter to get the result. Download our Formulas tutorial workbook We've put together a Formulas in-depth You can browse through the individual sections below to learn more about specific formula elements. A formula can also contain any or all of the following: functions, references, operators, and constants. Parts of a formula 1. Functions: The 2. References: A2 returns the value in cell A2. 3. Constants: Numbers or text values entered directly into a formula, such as 2. 4. Operators: The ^ (caret) operator raises a number to a power, and the * (asterisk) operator multiplies numbers. A constant is a value that is not calculated; it always stays the same. For example, the date 10/9/2008, the number 210, and the text "Quarterly E...

Although Excel includes a multitude of built-in worksheet functions, chances are it doesn’t have a function for every type of calculation you perform. The designers of Excel couldn’t possibly anticipate every user's calculation needs. Instead, Excel provides you with the ability to create custom functions, which are explained in this article. Custom functions, like macros, use the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming language. They differ from macros in two significant ways. First, they use Function procedures instead of Sub procedures. That is, they start with a Function statement instead of a Sub statement and end with End Function instead of End Sub. Second, they perform calculations instead of taking actions. Certain kinds of statements, such as statements that select and format ranges, are excluded from custom functions. In this article, you’ll learn how to create and use custom functions. To create functions and macros, you work with the Visual Basic Editor (VBE), which opens in a new window separate from Excel. Suppose your company offers a quantity discount of 10 percent on the sale of a product, provided the order is for more than 100 units. In the following paragraphs, we'll demonstrate a function to calculate this discount. The example below shows an order form that lists each item, quantity, price, discount (if any), and the resulting extended price. To create a custom DISCOUNT function in this workbook, follow these steps: • Press Alt+F11 to open th...