Excel Functions Deciphered

Have you ever opened an Excel worksheet and wondered, what all the extra function buttons were for? Is there really any use for anything other than the SUM function? Well actually there is!

The definition of a function is a calculation tool that performs a predefined operation. Most of us are already familiar with the SUM function, which adds the values of a range. Did you know that Excel provides hundreds of functions? Below are the categories and a brief example of the type of functions they calculate:

• Financial - Calculate loan payments, depreciation, interest rates and internal rate of returns
• Date and Time - Display today's date and/or time; calculate the number of days between dates
• Math and Trig - Round off numbers, calculate sums, logs and least common multiple; generate random numbers
• Statistical - Calculate average, standard deviation and frequencies; find minimum and maximum; count how many numbers are in a list
• Lookup and Reference - Look for a value in a range of cells; find the row or column location of a reference
• Database - Perform crosstabs, averages, counts and standard deviation for an Excel database
• Text - Convert numbers to text; compare two text entries; find the length of a text entry
• Logical - Perform conditional calculations
• Engineering - Convert binary to hexadecimal and binary to decimal; calculate Bessel function

Each function has a syntax which tells you the order you must type the information, where to put commas, parentheses and other punctuation. Example: The syntax for SUM is SUM(range) and must be entered as =SUM(A2:A5).

The best way to enter unfamiliar formulas into a cell is to use the Paste Function Button. All you have to do is answer some basic questions and the wizard will put the values in the correct part of the function.

Visit us next week on how to use the Paste Function Button!

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Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC