Excel is the world’s premier
spreadsheet software. You can use
Excel to analyze numbers, keep track
of data, and graphically represent
your information. With Excel 2010,
you can manage more data than ever,
with increased worksheet and
workbook sizes. Excel also makes
your job easier by providing an easy
to use interface, and an array of
Excel 2010
Formulas &
Functions
Module3
Christine M. Dandaraw, MCT The backbone of Excel is its ability to perform calculations. There are two ways to set
up calculations in Excel: using formulas or using functions. Formulas are
mathematical expressions that you build yourself. You need to follow proper math
principles in order to obtain the expected answer. Building the formula is simply a
matter of combining the proper cell addresses with the correct operators in the right
order. This module will explore how to build, edit, and copy formulas.
Table of Contents
Create Basic Formulas ............................................................................... 3
Formula Basics:........................................................................................ 3
Operators used in Formulas: ...................................................................... 4
Calculate with Functions ............................................................................ 5
Editing Formulas ...................................................................................... 6
References in Formulas ............................................................................. 7
Quick Calculator ....................................................................................... 8
Create an Absolute Reference ..................................................................... 8
Create an Absolute Reference ..................................................................... 9
Arguments .............................................................................................. 9
Copying a Formula: Drag and Drop Method .................................................10
To fill formulas ........................................................................................10
Formula Bar ............................................................................................11
The Insert Function Dialog ........................................................................13
The Insert Function Dialog ........................................................................13
Search for a Function ...............................................................................14
Select A Category ....................................................................................14
Paste Special ..........................................................................................14
Switching Rows of Cells to Columns or Columns to Rows ...............................14
Pasting Only Values, Formulas, Comments, or Cell Formats ...........................15
The Date function ....................................................................................15
Date Functions ........................................................................................16
Date Functions ........................................................................................16
The Days360 Function in Excel ..................................................................18
Using Financial Functions ..........................................................................19
PMT Function ..........................................................................................19
Financial Formulas - by Category ...............................................................22
Depreciation Formulas ..............................................................................22
Formulas for Interest, Cash Flow, Investments, Annuities ..............................22
Functions for Coupons ..............................................................................22
Finance Formulas for Securities .................................................................23
Formulas for Dollar Price Conversions .........................................................23
Treasury Bill Functions .............................................................................23
Using Logical “IF” Function ........................................................................24
Performing calculations ............................................................................25
Displaying text ........................................................................................26
Leaving Cells Blank
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Create Basic Formulas
Formulas are entries that have an equation that calculates the value to display. We DO
NOT type in the numbers we are looking for; we type in the equation. This equation will
be updated upon the change or entry of any data that is referenced in the equation.
Formula Basics: Formulas OR Functions MUST BEGIN with an equal sign (=) so that
Excel can distinguish it from text.
We use formulas to CALCULATE a value to be displayed.
A formula consists of any of the following elements:
A. Mathematical operators
B. Cell references (including named cells and ranges)
C. Values or text
D. Worksheet functions (such as SUM or AVERAGE)
Examples of formulas:
=100*.05 Multiplies 100 times 0.05
(This formula only uses values and therefore is not very useful)
=A1*A2 Multiplies the contents of cell A1 by the contents of cell A2
(This formula uses cell references.)
=Income-Expenses Subtracts the cell named Expenses from the cell named
Income
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Operators used in Formulas:
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
^ Exponentiation
& Concatenation
= Logical comparison (equal to)
> Logical comparison (greater than)
< Logical comparison (less than)
>= Logical comparison (greater than or equal to)
<= Logical comparison (less than or equal to)
<> Logical comparison (not equal to)
You can use as many operators as you need in a formula.
Operator Precedence in Formulas:
Excel follows a certain order of operators, when it calculates a formula:
1. Items in parentheses
2. Exponentiation
3. Multiplication and division (from left to right)
4. Addition and subtraction (from left to right)
Example: =(B2-B3)*B4 will yield a different result than =B2-B3*B4
Probably the most popular function in any spreadsheet is the SUM function. The Sum
function takes all of the values in each of the specified cells and totals their values. The
syntax is:
=SUM(first value, second value, etc)
There are many functions built into many spreadsheets.
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Average function. The average function finds the average of the specified data.
(Simplifies adding all of the indicated cells together and dividing by the total number of
cells.) The syntax is as follows.
=Average (first value, second value, etc.)
Calculate with Functions
SUM
Example = SUM(C3:G9)
Result: Total of all numbers in the range.
AVERAGE
Example = AVERAGE(C3:G9)
Result: Average of all numbers in the range.
COUNTIF Example = COUNTIF(C3:G9, “>55”)
Result: # of cells in the range containing numbers greater than 55.
COUNTA Example =COUNTA(C3:C25)
Result: Number of Actual items in row
Used in counting groups of similar numbers within a set of data.
TODAY() Example = TODAY()
Result = current date. Useful for forms that require a date.
ROUND
Example = ROUND(A4/3,2)
Result if A4 = 5 then 5/3 = 1.6666 which is rounded to 1.67
Entering Formulas into Your Worksheet:
a. Manually – just type the formula starting with the equal sign
b. By pointing – type an equal sign, click on the cell, type in the operator, click
on the next cell
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Name Box displays the reference of the active cell
Drops down a list of names
The Cancel Button cancels the entry in the
The Enter Button accepts the entry in the formula bar
Edit Formula initiates the formula editor
Entry Area of the formula bar
Active Cell
Editing Formulas
Excel provides multiple ways to edit the contents of a cell:
a. Double click on the cell
b. Press F2 while the cell is active
c. Click on the formula bar while the cell is active
Formula Bar
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References in Formulas:
References identify cells or groups of cells on a worksheet. Column references range
from A through IV (256 columns). Row references range from 1 through 16,384
References are of three types:
Relative A10
Absolute $A$10
Mixed $A10 or A$10
Use the F4 key to convert relative references to absolute or mixed references. The F4
key cycles through each type.
AutoSum
AutoSum is a simple mathematical formula to display the total sum of the neighboring
cells. Excel chooses these cells automatically based on the ideal usage of the position of
the result. AutoSum first checks if there is any continuous group of cells which has
numbers above the result cell for its range, then it checks to the left side of the result
cell. But the range of cells that are included for the calculation can be reselected
manually by dragging if it’s wrong.
How to use AutoSum?
In Excel 2003, you can use the AutoSum symbol (which is a sigma sign) from the
toolbar and In Excel 2007, you can find the AutoSum function in the Editing section
(which is on the far right side) under Home tab.
Keyboard Shortcut to AutoSum in Excel
But you can always use the keyboard Shortcut, ALT + = to do the AutoSum. This tip
comes very handy if most of your daily calculations depend on addition of values.
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Quick Tip: AutoSum can be used not only when the values are adjacent to the result
cells, but even if it’s randomly displayed. All that you have to do is, press ALT+= in
the cell where you want the result to be displayed and while holding the CTRL key click
all the cells that you want to be included in the result.
Quick Calculator
When you want a quick calculation of a column highlight the range of cells or entire
column and select the quick calculator on the status bar. You can choose from several
operators.
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Create an Absolute Reference
Excel accepts cell references in what are called absolute and relative ranges.
Absolute ranges have a $ character before either the column portion of the
reference and/or the row portion of the reference. Relative ranges do not use
the $ character. The $ character indicates to Excel that it should not increment
the column and/or row reference as you fill a range with a formula or as you
copy a range. For example A1 is a relative range, while $A$1 is an absolute
range. If you enter =A1 in a cell and then fill that cell down a column, the '1' in
the reference will increment in each row. Thus, the formula in row 50 would be
=A50. However, if you enter =$A$1 in a cell and fill down, the range reference
will remain $A$1 -- it will not increment as you fill or copy down a column.
There are three absolute styles:
Reference Style Meaning
$A$1
$A1
A$1
Both the column and row reference is fixed. Neither will be
incremented or changed during a copy or fill.
Only the column reference is fixed. It will not change during a fill
or copy, but the row will change.
Only the row reference is fixed. It will not change during a fill or
copy, but the column will change.
Arguments
In certain cases, you may need to use a function as one of the arguments of another
function. For example, the following formula uses a nested AVERAGE function and
compares the result with the value 50.
Valid returns
When a nested function is used as an argument, it must return the
same type of value that the argument uses. For example, if the argument returns a
TRUE or FALSE value, then the nested function must return a TRUE or FALSE. If it
doesn't, Microsoft Excel displays a #VALUE! error value.
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Nesting level limits
A formula can contain up to seven levels of nested functions.
When Function B is used as an argument in Function A, Function B is a second-level
function. For instance, the AVERAGE function and the SUM function are both secondlevel functions because they are arguments of the IF function. A function nested within
the AVERAGE function would be a third-level function, and so on.
Copying a Formula: Drag and Drop Method
To fill formulas
1. First, click the cell that contains the formula you want to copy.
2. Move the mouse pointer to the fill handle in the lower right corner of cell until
the mouse pointer changes to a large black plus sign.
3. Then drag across to the cell where you want to drop the formula.
4. Release the mouse button, Excel fills the cell with the formula.
Enter a function in Formula Pallet
Select the cell where you want to insert the function. Click the
Insert Menu and click the Function. Select the function you want
to use and click OK. Enter
the function arguments and
click OK.
Tips
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You can adjust the size of the Formula Bar. Click and drag the rounded edge of the
Name Box to adjust it horizontally. To adjust it vertically, click and drag the bottom
border of the Formula Bar or click the Expand Formula Bar button at the end of the
Formula Bar.
You can use the Formula AutoComplete feature to help you create and edit complex
formulas. Type an = (equal sign) in a cell or the Formula Bar and start typing the
formula. As you do this, a list appears of functions and names that fit with the text you
entered. Select an item from the list to insert it into the formula.
Formula Bar
Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.
1. In the formula bar
, type = (equal sign).
2. Do one of the following:

To create a reference, select a cell, a range of cells, a location in
another worksheet, or a location in another workbook. You can
drag the border of the cell selection to move the selection, or
drag the corner of the border to expand the selection.

To enter a reference to a named range, press F3, select the
name in the Paste name box, and click OK.
3. Press ENTER.
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The following formulas contain functions.
Example formula
What it does
=SUM(A:A)
Adds all numbers in column A
=AVERAGE(A1:B4)
Averages all numbers in the range
1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.
2. To start the formula with the function, click Insert Function
formula bar
on the
.
3. Select the function you want to use. You can enter a question that describes
what you want to do in the Search for a function box (for example, "add
numbers" returns the SUM function), or browse from the categories in the Or
Select a category box.
4. Enter the arguments. To enter cell references as an argument, click Collapse
Dialog
to temporarily hide the dialog box. Select the cells on the
worksheet, then press Expand Dialog
.
5. When you complete the formula, press ENTER.
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The Insert Function Dialog
Called the Paste Function dialog in older versions, but the Insert Function dialog
in newer versions, this dialog box is used to insert or paste the selected function into
the chosen cell. The big advantage to using this feature comes as you become more
comfortable writing Excel formulas. Initially it is most beneficial because it can be used
as a step-by-step guide for each argument in a function. What this means is, if you are
going to be using a simple function such as the SUM, MIN, MAX etc. , it really serves no
purpose. When writing slightly harder functions such as COUNTIF, SUMIF etc. , it can
aid greatly.
Let’s display the Insert Function dialog and have a superficial look at it. There are
three methods we can use to show this dialog box and which one you use is purely
optional. The three methods are:

Going to Insert>Function

Push Shift + F3

Click the Insert Function icon to the left of your Formula bar (Fx), or for older
version users, click the Paste Function icon on your Standard toolbar.
Once activated you will see the Insert Function dialog pop up in front of you.
Depending on which version of Excel you are using, these heading names may vary
slightly in this dialog box.
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Search for a Function
Type a brief description of what you want to do in this box, then click Go to view a list
of appropriate Functions.
Select A Category
In this dialog box you will see the Category Names that the Functions are grouped in.
Click All to see a list of All Functions displayed in the Select A Function: box in
alphabetical order. Click Most Recently Used to see a list of the last 10 functions
used in the Select a Function: box.
Paste Special
Instead of copying entire cells, you can copy specified cell contents - such as the cell
format or the result of a formula, but not the formula itself - with the Paste Special
command. You can also switch data from columns to rows and vice versa.
Switching Rows of Cells to Columns or Columns to Rows
1. Select the cells that you want to switch.
2. Open the Edit menu and select Copy.
3. Select the upper left cell of the
paste
area. The paste area must be
outside
the copy area.
4. Open the Edit menu and select
Paste
Special.
5. Select the Transpose check box.
6. Click OK.
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Pasting Only Values, Formulas, Comments, or Cell Formats
1. Select the cell or range of cells you want to copy.
2. Open the Edit menu and select Copy.
3. Click the cell you want to paste the information into, or
click the upper left boundary of the cell range you want
to paste the information into.
4. Open the Edit menu and select Paste Special.
5. Select Formula to copy only the formula of the cell.
6. Highlight Values to copy only the outcome of the
formula you copied into the cell and not the formula
itself.
7. Select Format to copy just the format of the cell (font,
alignment, and so on).
8. Choose Comments to copy only annotations for the cell.
9. Click OK to accept the option you selected.
The Date function
To enter the current date into the spreadsheet use the =NOW() function
1.
Select the cell in
the spreadsheet where you want
the date to appear.
2. Type = NOW ( ) in
the cell to add the current date to
the spreadsheet.
3. Press the ENTER key
on the keyboard.
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Date Functions
To enter a date Function, do the
following:
1. Click on Insert from the
menu bar
2. From the drop down
menu, click on Function
3. In the Function
category section, click
on Date & Time
4. In the Function name
section, click on Date
5. Click the OK button at the bottom
6. The formula palette appears on your spreadsheet
7. Click inside the Year box and
enter the year
8. Click inside the Month box and
enter the number of the month
(e.g. 10 for October)
9. Click inside the Day box and
enter the number 15 (The 15th
day - or enter another number,
if you want.)
10. Click the OK button at the
bottom
11. Excel enters the Date in cell.
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Notice how the date Function is set out in the Formula box. It is set out as
=Date(2008, 10, 15).
However, in cell the date
appears as 4/15. It has missed
out the year completely!
The reason Excel has missed the
year out is because of the way
cell was formatted. To change
the formatting of cell, click on
Format form the menu bar.
From the drop down menu, click
on Cells. The format dialogue
box appears. Click the Number
tab strip at the top. Under
Category, click on Date. A list
of different date types appears
in the Type list. The following picture shows this:
The Type section of the dialogue box is where you set how
you want your date to look. At the moment, the first option is
selected 3/14. Scroll down and click on March 14, 2001. Then
click the OK button at the bottom. Your spreadsheet will now
look like this one:
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The Days360 Function in Excel
The Function to use when you want to work out how many days difference there are
between two dates is the Date360( ) function. So click on cell you wish to have the
results appear and do the
following:
1. From the menu bar, click
on Insert
2. From the drop down list,
click on Function
3. The Paste Function
dialogue box appears
4. Under Function
category, click on Date
& Time
5. Under Function name,
click on Days360( )
6. Click the OK button at the bottom
7. The formula palette appears on your spreadsheet:
What Excel is looking for here
is two dates: a start date and
an end date. Click inside the
Method box and enter True
(This will ensure that Excel
calculates from the European
date system.) Click the OK
button when you're done.
Your spreadsheet might look
like the one below:
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Make sure that your cell is formatted as a number, and set the Decimal places to zero.
Your spreadsheet will then show the correct answer, like the one below:
Entering dates can be fairly straightforward. But performing calculations with dates can
be slightly more complex.
Using Financial Functions
PMT Function
"Calculates the payment for a loan based
on constant payments and a constant
interest rate."
1. Click on Insert from the menu bar
2. From the drop down menu, click on
Function
3. In the
Function
category
section,
click on Date &
Time
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In the Function name section, click on Choose "Financial" from the box that says "Or
select a category" and
choose
PMT from the list below.
Click OK and you will be
presented
with this box
Now, all you have to do is fill in the boxes and Excel will give you your answer:
1. In the "Rate" box,
type is the cell
reference that
contains your interest
rate. However, the
lending agency will
give you the YEARLY
rate and what you
need is the MONTHLY
rate, so, you need to
put B5/12 in this box
(that’s B5 divided by
12 months in a year)
2. The "Nper" box is for the number of payment periods and we have that entered
in B3, so put B3 in this box.
(TIP: You don’t have to type B3 in the box. If your cursor is positioned in the
box, you can just click on cell B3 and Excel will put it in the box for you.)
3. The "Pv" box is for the present value, or the amount you are going to pay. That
value is in B4, so put B4 in that box.
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4. Notice that "Fv" and "Type" are not in bold like the others. This is because these
arguments are optional, whereas the bold ones are mandatory. See at the
bottom of the box that Excel tells you that Fv is the future value and if you
leave it empty, Excel will assume 0 (zero). Since you want to pay this loan off
entirely, you want a zero balance, so just hit your tab key to leave this empty
and move to the "Type" box.
5. Lending agencies often offer different payment amounts if the load is paid at the
beginning of the month than if it is paid at the end of the month. Your lending
agency will tell you if they offer this. For now, put a zero (0) in that box,
assuming you will pay this loan at end of the month.
6. Then click OK.
Your spreadsheet should now look like this and you see your monthly payments with
these choices are $436.70.
And, if you want to know if you can retire early, try Excel’s Financial Function named
"FV" and see if you can figure out how to determine what that savings plan you have
will be worth in 25 years.
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Financial Formulas - by Category
Financial functions, with a * next those that are only available after installing the
Analysis ToolPak (To install, go to Tools > Add-ins > and select Analysis ToolPak).
Depreciation Formulas







DB - Fixed-Declining Balance
DDB - Double-Declining Balance
SLN - Straight-Line Depreciation
SYD - Sum-of-Years' Digits
VDB - Variable Declining Balance
* AMORLINC - (for the French accounting system) Depreciation for each
accounting period
* AMORDEGRC - (for the French accounting system) Uses a depreciation
coefficient
Formulas for Interest, Cash Flow, Investments, Annuities

















* CUMIPMT - Cumulative Interest Payment
* CUMPRINC - Cumulative Principal
* EFFECT - Effective annual interest rate
FV - Future Value of an investment
* FVSCHEDULE - Future Value with a variable rate
IPMT - Interest Payment for an investment or loan
IRR - Internal Rate of Return
ISPMT - Interest Payment during a Specific period (for compatibility with Lotus)
MIRR - Modified Internal Rate of Return
NPER - Number of Periods for an investment or loan
NPV - Net Present Value formula
PMT - Periodic Payment for an annuity
PPMT - Payment on the Principal for an annuity or loan
PV - Present Value of an investment
RATE - Interest rate per period
* XIRR - Internal Rate of Return (not necessarily periodic)
* XNPV - Net Present Value (not necessarily periodic)
Functions for Coupons






* COUPDAYBS - Days from the Beginning of the Coupon period to the
Settlement date
* COUPDAYS - Days in the coupon period that contains the Settlement date
* COUPDAYSNC - Days from the Settlement date to the Next Coupon date
* COUPNCD - Next Coupon Date after the settlement date
* COUPPCD - Previous Coupon Date before the settlement date
* COUPNUM - Number of coupons between the settlement and maturity date
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Finance Formulas for Securities


















* ACCRINT - Accrued Interest
* ACCRINTM - Accrued Interest at Maturity
* DISC - Discount rate
* DURATION - Annual Duration
* INTRATE - Interest rate for a fully invested security
* MDURATION - Macauley modified duration (with an assumed par value of
$100)
* NOMINAL - Annual nominal interest rate
* ODDFPRICE - Price per $100 face value with an Odd First period
* ODDFYIELD - Yield with an Odd First period
* ODDLPRICE - Price per $100 face value with an Odd Last period
* ODDLYIELD - Yield with an Odd Last period
* PRICE - Price per $100 face value
* PRICEDISC - Price per $100 face value of a Discounted security
* PRICEMAT - Price per $100 face value of a security that pays interest at
Maturity
* RECEIVED - Amount received at maturity for a fully invested security
* YIELD - Yield on a security that pays periodic interest
* YIELDDISC - Annual yield for a discounted security (Treasury bill)
* YIELDMAT - Annual yield of a security that pays interest at maturity
Formulas for Dollar Price Conversions


* DOLLARDE - Converts a dollar price from a Fraction to a Decimal number
* DOLLARFR - Converts a dollar price from a Decimal number to a Fraction
Treasury Bill Functions



* TBILLEQ - Bond-equivalent yield for a Treasury Bill
* TBILLPRICE - Price per $100 face value for a Treasury Bill
* TBILLYIELD - Yield for a Treasury Bill
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Using Logical “IF” Function
The IF function is one of Excel’s most useful and most used functions. What it does,
basically, is test to see whether a certain condition is true or false. If the condition is
true, the function will do one thing, if the condition is false, the function will do
something else.
The basic form or syntax of the function is:
=IF(logic test, value if true, value if false)
The logic test is always a comparison between two values. Comparison operators are
used, for example, to see if the first value is greater than or less than the second, or
equal to it. The "value if true" and "value if false" parts of the function are known as
arguments. They tell the function what to do, depending on the outcome of the logic
test.
Nested IF Functions
A Nested IF function is when a second IF function is placed inside the first in order to
test additional conditions. "Nesting" IF functions increases the flexibility of the function
by increasing the number of possible outcomes.
For example, deductions from an employee's income usually depends on employee
income. The higher the income, the higher the deduction rate. We can use an IF
function to determine what the deduction rate will be.
For this example, if employee income is:

less than $29,701, the deduction rate is 15%

greater than or equal to $29,701, but less than $71,950, the deduction rate
is 25%

greater than or equal to $71,950, the deduction rate is 28%
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The first deduction rate is handled by the logic test and the value if true argument of
the first IF function. To do this, we write the beginning of the IF function as:
=IF(A5 < 29701, A5*15%,
To add the second and third deduction levels, we nest one IF function inside another.
For example:
=IF(A5<29701,A5*15%,IF(A5<71950,A5*25%,A5*28%))
The logic test of the Nested IF function, checks to see if a employee’s income is
greater than or equal to $29,701, but less than $71,950. If it is, the deduction rate is
25%. If the income is greater than or equal to $71,950, the deduction rate is 28%.
Additional rate changes could be added another nested IF functions inside the existing
function.
Note: there is no comma separator in 29,701 or 71,950 in the above example. This is
because the IF function uses the comma to separate the three sections of the IF
function contained within the round brackets.
If you use a comma as a separator in numbers greater than a thousand, Excel will give
you an error message saying you have too many arguments in your function.
Performing calculations
The IF function can perform different calculations depending on whether the function
returns a true value or not.
The example below uses different deduction rates in its calculations based on employee
income.
=IF(A5 < 29701, A5 * 15%, A5 * 25%)
If employees earn above a certain level, one deduction rate will be used in the
calculation, if their income is below this level, a different deduction rate will be used.
What the above example does is test to see if the value in cell A5 is less than 29,701.
If it is, the function multiplies the value in cell A5 by 15%(the "value if true"
argument). If the value in A5 is greater than or equal to 29,701, then the amount in
cell A5 is multiplied by 25% (the "value if false" argument).
Diocese of St. Petersburg
pg. 25
9/5/2014
Displaying text
Having text displayed by an IF function rather than a number can make it easier to find
and read specific results in the spreadsheet.
Below, the example IF function is setup to test whether a student's mark is greater
than or equal to 50. If it is, "Passed" is written into the target cell. If not, the word
"Failed" appears.
=IF(A5>=50,”Passed”,”Failed”)
A second example could be used by a company to quickly determine which employees
are entitled to a bonus for exceeding a certain level of production.
=IF(A5>=5000,”Pay Bonus”,”No Bonus”)
Leaving Cells Blank
Having an IF function return a blank cell is similar to having it return words or a text
statement. You use quotation marks as with text, but just don’t put anything between
them.
=IF(A5 > 5000,”Too High”,” ”)
In this example, the IF function acts as a flag. If the value in cell A5 goes above 5,000,
the warning “Too High” is displayed in the cell. If A5 is not above 5,000, there is no
need for a warning so the cell remains blank.
Diocese of St. Petersburg
pg. 26
9/5/2014