Generate lists of working and non-working days

You will sometimes need to generate a sequence of working and/or non-working dates in Excel. In principle, the simplest way to accomplish this is to combine the SEQUENCE function with the FILTER function.   The SEQUENCE function generates a list of sequential numbers. The SEQUENCE function syntax is as follows: =SEQUENCE ( rows ; [columns] ; [start] ; [step] ) Rows specifies the number of rows to fill. Columns specifies the number of columns to fill. If omitted, 1 column

How to look up the next smaller item or the next larger item

The XLOOKUP function searches a range or an array for a match and returns the corresponding item from a second range or array. The syntax of the XLOOKUP function is as follows: = XLOOKUP ( lookup_value ; lookup_array ; return_array ; if_not_found ; match_mode ; search_mode ) The lookup value can be either a text or a number, inputted directly into the function or as a cell reference.   When looking up numbers, other than match type 0, exact match,

How to use less than or greater than MATCH

We can use the INDEX function to designate a cell range (array) from which we want to retrieve data and, at the same time, use the MATCH function to specify the address of a cell in that cell range (array), i.e., row and column.   The MATCH function returns the relative position of the item in the range, either a row or a column. The relative position is returned in the form of an integer number, such as 1, 2,

IFS function

We’ve previously covered how we can nest one or more IF functions inside the IF function. This enables us to perform multiple different actions depending on the tested condition, but it can also make the whole formula longer than necessary and hard to read/understand/correct.   The IFS function can take the place of multiple nested IF statements and is, in principle, easier to read. The syntax of the IFS function is as follows: = IFS ( logical_test ; value_if_true ;

IFERROR and IFNA functions

We’ve previously covered how we can nest the ISERROR function, the ISERR function, or the ISNA function inside the IF function in order to check for errors and perform appropriate actions if errors occur. While effective, this can make the whole formula longer than necessary and hard to read/understand/correct. The specialized IFERROR and IFNA functions with simpler syntax can take the place of the IF ISERROR and IF ISNA combinations.   The IFERROR function checks whether the cell or formula

Conditional calculations

  IF functions for cell ranges Using conditional statements, i.e., the IF function, we can test conditions and perform actions if conditions are met. This IF-THEN-ELSE conditional processing is useful when we want to add something new to our rows. However, it is not really appropriate for retrieving data from or about whole ranges of cells, sometimes containing thousands of rows and columns. For example, in order to sum the incentive paid out to “green” team members, we had to