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Exercise 15 of 41 · Conditional calculations · Intermediate · 5 min

Total Revenue for One Region

Your task: In H2, write a formula that totals the revenue of the East orders.

Full instructions, scenario and goal

Scenario

You work in sales operations for a company that sells computer equipment. The sheet lists twelve recent orders with the sales region and the revenue for each. Your manager asks: "How much revenue did the East region bring in?"

Your task

  1. Look at the order list in A1:E13. Each row is one order, with its sales region (column B) and revenue (column E).
  2. Select cell H2, next to the label "East region revenue".
  3. Type a formula that adds up the Revenue for the orders whose Region is East, then press Enter.
  4. Select Check Answer to see whether your formula is correct.

You are done when

  • H2 contains a formula, not a number you typed.
  • The formula returns the total revenue of the East orders.
  • The formula would still be right if the orders were re-sorted or the revenue figures changed.

What you will practise

Add up only the values that meet a condition, using a formula that reads the data instead of repeating a number you worked out by hand.

The idea in 30 seconds

SUMIF adds up the numbers in one range, but only for the rows where a second range meets a condition. It needs three pieces: the range to test, the condition, and the range that holds the numbers to add. The test range and the sum range line up row by row, so they should be the same size and start on the same row.

Read the full explanation below the sheet

Spreadsheet

H2
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Loading spreadsheet…

Keyboard shortcuts
Arrow keys
Move between cells
Shift + Arrow keys, or drag with the mouse
Select a range
Ctrl + Arrow keys
Jump to the edge of a block of data
Type, or F2, or double-click
Edit a cell (F2 switches arrow keys between moving and editing)
Click or arrow keys inside a formula
Insert a cell reference after =, +, (, comma and similar
F4
Cycle a reference through A1, $A$1, A$1, $A1
Enter / Tab while editing
Confirm and move down / right (Shift reverses)
Esc
Cancel the edit
Ctrl + C / X / V
Copy, cut and paste (formulas adjust like in Excel)
Delete
Clear the selected cells
Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y
Undo and redo
Ctrl + Enter
Check your answer
Tab when not editing
Leave the spreadsheet

Type your answer in cell H2. Click a cell and type. Enter confirms, Esc cancels, Ctrl+Enter checks your answer.Tap a highlighted cell to type in it, then tap the green tick to confirm. Scroll the sheet sideways if it is wider than your screen.

New here? How an exercise works
  1. Read the task. Highlighted cells are yours to fill in; the rest are locked.
  2. Select (or tap) a highlighted cell and type a formula. It starts with =, like =A1+B1.
  3. Press Check answer. Stuck? Reveal hints one at a time.

The full explanation: the idea behind this exercise

SUMIF adds up the numbers in one range, but only for the rows where a second range meets a condition. It needs three pieces: the range to test, the condition, and the range that holds the numbers to add. The test range and the sum range line up row by row, so they should be the same size and start on the same row.

The condition can be a word such as "North", a number, or a comparison written in quotation marks, such as ">100". Text conditions are not case sensitive. Typical uses are totalling the expenses of one category, the sales of one salesperson, or the orders from one region, and the result updates by itself as the data changes.

Skills you will practise

  • SUMIF
  • Conditional sum

Topic guide: Excel SUMIF, COUNTIF and SUMIFS Practice

Common mistakes to avoid

Forgetting the quotation marks
A text condition such as East must be written in quotation marks inside the formula: "East". Without them Excel looks for a named item called East and shows #NAME?.
Adding every row
SUM(E2:E13) adds all twelve orders. SUMIF only adds the rows where the condition is true.
Typing the total you worked out
Adding the East orders by hand and typing the result gives the right number today but is wrong as soon as the data changes. The formula should do the work.