Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Counting and Summing Techniques

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. If I've done my job, this chapter will answer the vast 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 you want counted or summed may or may not consist of a worksheet database or table.

Table 1 lists the worksheet functions that come into play when creating counting and summing formulas. If none of the functions in Table 1 can solve your problem, it's likely that an array formula can come to the rescue.

Table 7-1: EXCEL'S COUNTING AND SUMMING FUNCTIONS Open table as spreadsheet
Function	Description
COUNT	Returns the number of cells in a range that contain a numeric value
COUNTA	Returns the number of nonblank cells in a range
COUNTBLANK	Returns the number of blank cells in a range
COUNTIF	Returns the number of cells in a range that meet a single specified criterion
COUNTIFS[*]	Returns the number of cells in a range that meet one or more specified criterion
DCOUNT	Counts the number of records in a worksheet database that meet specified criteria
DCOUNTA	Counts the number of nonblank records in a worksheet database that meet specified criteria
DEVSQ	Returns the sum of squares of deviations of data points from the sample mean; used primarily in statistical formulas
DSUM	Returns the sum of a column of values in a worksheet database that meet specified criteria
FREQUENCY	Calculates how often values occur within a range of values and returns a vertical array of numbers; used only in a multicell array formula
SUBTOTAL	When used with a first argument of 2 or 3, returns a count of cells that comprise a subtotal; when used with a first argument of 9, returns the sum of cells that comprise a subtotal
SUM	Returns the sum of its arguments
SUMIF	Returns the sum of cells in a range that meet a specified criterion
SUMIFS[*]	Returns the sum of the cells in a range that meet one or more specified criterion
SUMPRODUCT	Multiplies corresponding cells in two or more ranges and returns the sum of those products
SUMSQ	Returns the sum of the squares of its arguments; used primarily in statistical formulas
SUMX2PY2	Returns the sum of the sum of squares of corresponding values in two ranges; used primarily in statistical formulas
SUMXMY2	Returns the sum of squares of the differences of corresponding values in two ranges; used primarily in statistical formulas
SUMX2MY2	Returns the sum of the differences of squares of corresponding values in two ranges; used primarily in statistical formulas
[*]These are new functions, available only in Excel 2007.

Getting a Quick Count or Sum

In Excel 97, Microsoft introduced the AutoCalculate feature. This feature displays, in the status bar, information about the selected range. By default, Excel 2007 displays the average, count, and sum of the selected cells. You can, however, right-click the status bar to bring up the Status Bar Configuration menu with some other options.