Excel for Business Guide

Start by selecting a cell and typing =. The equals sign tells Excel to calculate or run the function in what comes next.

Excel uses common arithmetic operators you may have seen elsewhere:

• Plus: +
• Minus: -
• Times: *
• Divided by: /​
• To the power of: ^
• The quantity: (…)

Working with more than a few data points? Functions need less set-up to handle the same--or more complex--operations that basic arithmetic operators can perform.

Some arithmetic functions:

• Minimum Value​: MIN(number1, [number2], …)​
• Maximum Value: MAX(number1, [number2], …)​
• Add Values: SUM(number1, [number2], …)​
• Multiply​ Values: PRODUCT(number1, [number2], …)
• Mean Value​: AVERAGE(number1, [number2], …)​
• Median Value​: MEDIAN(number1, [number2], …)​
• Standard Deviation (from a Sample)​​: STDEV.S(number1, [number2], …)​
• Number of Cells with Numbers​​: COUNT(value1, [value2], …)
• Number of Cells with Any Content​: COUNTA(value1, [value2], …)​