Getting the Most Out of Microsoft Excel Functions

Microsoft Excel functions give you access to a range of powerful tools. Functions are pre-generated operations that can be applied to the cells of your spreadsheet.

The Anatomy of Microsoft Excel Functions
All functions in Microsoft Excel have the following characteristics:

• Functions are part of a formula and are called with the "=" sign.
• Function names are single words and are typically entered as all capitals.
• Most functions require a list of arguments. Arguments are variables that the function will use to perform calculations. Arguments are contained within a set of parentheses and can be text, numbers or cell references, depending on the requirements of the function.

An example of a function in a formula: =AVERAGE(A3, B7, C2), which would produce the numerical average of the data in the three labeled cells.

An Excel Functions Sampler

• AVERAGE: Returns the arithmetical average of the list of arguments.
• MAX, MIN: MAX returns the largest number in the argument list, while MIN returns the smallest number in the argument list.
• TODAY: Returns the current date. Note: date functions return the serial number of the date. To get that information into a human-readable date, set the format of the results cell to Date.
• WEEKDAY: Returns the day of the week for a supplied date. The WEEKDAY function returns the day of the week as an integer (1=Sunday, 7=Saturday).
• CONVERT: Converts a value from one unit of measure to another. The Excel help file has a list of supported measurement units.
• ISEVEN, ISODD: ISEVEN determines if the argument is an even number, while ISODD determines if the argument is an odd number.
• IF: Evaluates a condition and returns a true or false result. For example: =IF(A1>10,"Over 10," "10 or less") would return "Over 10" if the value of A1=13 and "10 or less" if the value of A1=7.

Learning More About Functions
There are literally hundreds of Excel functions available. The Excel help files are a good place to find out more or to look up the details of a specific function. The Microsoft Office Web site also has a detailed list of Excel functions.