Chapter 7 Counting and Summing Techniques

In This Chapter

  • Counting and summing cells
  • Counting and summing records in databases and pivot tables
  • Basic counting formulas
  • Advanced counting formulas
  • Formulas for common summing tasks
  • Conditional summing formulas using a single criterion
  • Conditional summing formulas using multiple criteria
  • Using VBA for counting and summing tasks

Many of the most frequently asked spreadsheet questions involve counting and summing values and other worksheet elements. It seems that people are always looking for formulas to count or sum various items in a worksheet. This chapter will answer the majority of such questions.

Counting and Summing Worksheet Cells

Generally, a counting formula returns the number of cells in a specified range that meet certain criteria. A summing formula returns the sum of the values of the cells in a range that meet certain criteria. The range that you want counted or summed may or may not consist of a worksheet database or a table.

Table 7.1 lists the worksheet functions that come into play when you are creating counting and summing formulas. If none of the functions in Table 7.1 can solve your problem, an array formula can likely come to the rescue.

Table 7.1 Excel Counting and Summing Functions

Function Description
AGGREGATE Can be used for counting and summing, with options to ignore hidden cells, error values, and nested SUBTOTAL or AGGREGATE functions.
COUNT Returns the number of cells in a range ...

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