Lesson 1 - List of common functions and definitions

When inserting a function into a cell always start with a "=" sign.
for example if you want to add two cells together you would write:

=sum(a1:b1) or
=a1+b1

Here is a list of excel function that I find my self using most often.

=Sum()
Use this function when adding multiple cells in a row or column
example: add all the data found in cell b1, b2 and b3
=Sum(B1:B3)

=IF()
Use this function when trying to answer simple yes or no questions
example: If cell b8 is greater than 1 then give me "apple" if not give me "peach"
=IF(B8>1,"apple","peach")

=SumIF()
Use this function when trying to add cells together with a certain characteristic
example: If "apple" is in Column A then add all the values from Column B that
have "apple" in the Column A rows
=Sumif(A:A,"apple",B:B)

=Counta()
Use this function when counting the number of cells with any value in them.
example: I want to know the number of cells that are not empty in column A
=Counta(A:A)

=CountIF()
Use this function when counting the number of cells with a certain characteristic
example: I want to now the number of cells with apple in the text in column A
=countif(A:A,"apple")

=Average()
=Mid()
=Left()
=Right()
=PMT()
=FV()
=PV()
=Nper()
=Rate()