Which departments are over budget? You can spot them in the right column in the screenshot below.įor each of the three examples, only one IF formula is created on the first row of the dataset and simply copied down to each row in the dataset. You can instantly make determinations or answer questions such as the following: The IF function allows you to specify results based on whether a specific criterion is met. Other versions of Excel may work differently. Note that the content that follows is based on Microsoft Excel 365 for PCs. You can also download an Excel file with separate worksheets for each example.

You can follow the walk- throughs below in a video I created, at the bottom of the page. Once you master the IF function, you will wonder how you ever lived without it. Fortunately, the time devoted to figuring all of that out can be cut dramatically with one of the most popular and useful functions in Excel, the IF function. The task alluded to in the question involves updating whether each department is over budget and also if some groups of departments are all over budget, or in some cases, if any of the departments in the groups are over budget. Part of my job involves keeping track of all the departments' budget status, which takes several hours each month.

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