MS Excel: Working with SUMIF Explained
- 6 days ago
- 1 min read
The SUMIF function in Excel allows you to add up values that meet specific criteria. It’s perfect for summarising data, tracking totals, and analysing reports quickly — without manually filtering or calculating numbers.
SUMIF is widely used in finance, administration, sales reporting, and operations.
What Does SUMIF Do?
SUMIF adds together only the numbers that match a condition you specify.
For example:
Total all sales over £1,000
Sum invoices for a specific client
Calculate expenses for a particular category
It’s a time-saving tool for any Excel user.
The Structure of SUMIF
=SUMIF(range, criteria, [sum_range])
range – The cells to evaluate for your criteria
criteria – The condition that determines which cells to sum
sum_range – Optional; the actual cells to sum (if different from the range)
Examples
1️⃣ Sum Values Greater Than a Number
=SUMIF(B2:B20, ">1000")
Adds all values in B2:B20 that are greater than 1000.
2️⃣ Sum Values Based on Text
=SUMIF(C2:C20, "Completed", D2:D20)
Sums all values in D2:D20 where the corresponding cell in C2:C20 is “Completed”.
3️⃣ Using Wildcards
* = any number of characters
? = any single character
Example:
=SUMIF(A2:A20, "*Manager*", B2:B20)
Sums all values in B2:B20 where the corresponding cell in A2:A20 contains the word “Manager”.
Why SUMIF Matters
SUMIF is essential for:
✔ Quickly calculating totals based on criteria
✔ Summarising sales, expenses, or invoices
✔ Automating reporting tasks
✔ Reducing manual errors in calculations
It is a key tool for finance, admin, and operational reporting.
Final Thoughts
Mastering SUMIF allows you to turn large datasets into meaningful summaries, it saves time, improves accuracy, and is a stepping stone to more advanced Excel formulas like SUMIFS, COUNTIF, and logical functions.
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