Solved

COUNTIFS formula not counting correctly

Posted on 2013-06-05

Microsoft Excel

1 solution

Medium Priority

641 Views

Last Modified: 2013-06-06

Hello, I'm using:

=SUM(COUNTIFS($P:$P, "Program Planning & Policy",$O:$O, {"AZ","CA","DC","IN","LA","ME","MI","NC","NY","PR","TX","VT","WA"},$S:$S, {"Reg.","IS"}))

To try an count some data, however it seem if I try to add the add the additional criteria to the last range of "IS" the formula no longer works.... If I'm just counting for "Reg." or "IS" individually it counts correctly....

Why can't I count the last range for 2 criteria... is there an alternate work around apart from doing two COUNTIFS ala:

=SUM(COUNTIFS($P:$P, "Program Planning & Policy",$S:$S, "Reg.",$O:$O, {"AZ","CA","DC","IN","LA","ME","MI","NC","NY","PR","TX","VT","WA"}),COUNTIFS($P:$P, "Program Planning & Policy",$S:$S, "IS",$O:$O, {"AZ","CA","DC","IN","LA","ME","MI","NC","NY","PR","TX","VT","WA"}))
Dummy.xlsx

Comment

Question by:-Polak

6 Comments

LVL 23

Expert Comment

by:NBVC

ID: 392230422013-06-05

It's because the criteria arrays aren't the same size....

Try:

=SUMPRODUCT((P1:P10="Program Planning & Policy")*(ISNUMBER(MATCH(O1:O10,{"AZ","CA","DC","IN","LA","ME","MI","NC","NY","PR","TX","VT","WA"},0)))*(ISNUMBER(MATCH(S1:S10,{"Reg.","IS"},0))))

adjust ranges to suit... but do not use unnecessarily large ranges.

LVL 50

Accepted Solution

by:barry houdini

barry houdini earned 2000 total points

ID: 392231182013-06-05

When you have 2 multi-element criteria ranges in COUNTIFS one needs to be separated by commas and one by semi-colons (assuming UK/US regional settings), so if you change the last comma , to a semi-colon ; your original formula will work, i.e.

=SUM(COUNTIFS($P:$P, "Program Planning & Policy",$O:$O, {"AZ","CA","DC","IN","LA","ME","MI","NC","NY","PR","TX","VT","WA"},$S:$S, {"Reg.";"IS"}))

If you have 3 or more multi-element criteria you need to use something like NB_VC's suggestion

regards, barry

LVL 1

Author Closing Comment

by:-Polak

ID: 392231542013-06-05

Thanks for the in-depth explaination of "why" and the cleaner solution.

LVL 23

Expert Comment

by:NBVC

ID: 392231772013-06-05

Hey barry,

Thanks.. you taught me something too :)

LVL 50

Expert Comment

by:barry houdini

ID: 392232592013-06-05

Thanks, note that even if the criteria arrays are the same size like this:

=SUM(COUNTIFS(A:A,{"a","b","c"},B:B,{"x","y","z"}))

then with comma separators for both you will only count a/x, b/y and c/z combinations. To count all combinations you still need to have commas for one and semi-colons for the other like this:

=SUM(COUNTIFS(A:A,{"a";"b";"c"},B:B,{"x","y","z"}))

regards, barry

LVL 23

Expert Comment

by:NBVC

ID: 392235362013-06-05

Oh, I see. Thanks again for elaborating. When I tested I got the correct result without realizing that they were aligned as you mentioned. :)

Featured Post

Question has a verified solution.

Are you are experiencing a similar issue? Get a personalized answer when you ask a related question.

Have a better answer? Share it in a comment.

Join & Write a Comment Already a member? Login.

My Favorite Code Snippets

Article by: Martin

This article presents several of my favorite code snippets.

Debits & Credits. Why oh why do they exist?

Article by: Anthony

Here is why.

Creating an Interactive Chart for Marketers in Excel

Video by: AnnieCushing

This Micro Tutorial demonstrates in Microsoft Excel how to consolidate your marketing data by creating an interactive charts using form controls. This creates cool drop-downs for viewers of your chart to choose from.

Microsoft Excel

How to Add a "Save As" icon to the Quick Access Toolbar

Video by: crystal

How can you see what you are working on when you want to see it while you to save a copy? Add a "Save As" icon to the Quick Access Toolbar, or QAT. That way, when you save a copy of a query, form, report, or other object you are modifying, you…