ExcelIFStatements,LOOKUPS&INDEX/MATCH.Whentochoosewhichone?

ThisarticlewillfocusontheappropriateuseofIFstatements,andalsoshowyouwhenit'sbettertomoveintomorerobustformulas
likeLOOKUP,VLOOKUP,HLOOKUP&INDEX/MATCH.
NOTES:thisarticleiswrittenforExcel2010anditsRibbonInterface.TheexamplesyouseewerecreatedinExcel2010,butsavedasExcel972003.
WorkingexamplesarehostedonMicrosoft's[url=http://cid8cffdec0ce27e813.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?resid=8CFFDEC0CE27E813!195]SkyDrive
service[/url]foryoutodownload.

IFstatementsareoneofthecoreformulamodelsyoucanuseinExcel,andtheycanbeverypowerfulwithregardstotheirlogic.
Verysimplytheyfollowthismethodology:IF(somethingisTrue,thendosomething,otherwisedosomethingelse).
=IF(A1="Yes",1,2),whichsimplysaysifA1=Yes,thenreturna1,otherwisereturna2.
YoucanalsocombineIFstatementstoevaluatemultiplecriteriabynestingthem,however,manypeopletrytogetIFstatementsto
dotoomuch.PreviousversionsofExcelallowedupto7levelsofnestedIFstatements,whichmeansthatyoucouldevaluateupto7
differentcriteria.Excel2007+allows64levelsofnestedIFstatements,butjustbecauseyoucandosomethingdoesn'tmeanyou
should!
OneofthemostcommonusesofIFstatementsistoreturndatathatmatchesspecificcriteria,orfallswithinarangeofvalues.Here
isarelativelycommonexampleofanestedIFstatementtoreturnlettergradesbasedontestscores:
=IF(A1>=90,"A",IF(A1>=80,"B",IF(A1>=70,"C",IF(A1>=60,"D",IF(A1<60,"F")))))
Anotheriscalculatingcommissionstatements:
=IF(A1>25000,A1*2%,IF(A1>15000,A1*1.5%,IF(A1>5000,A1*1%,0)))
Notethatinbothformulas,thecriterianeedtobeorderedsequentiallyinorderfortheformulatocalculatecorrectly.Sointhefirst
exampleA1>=90getsevaluatedfirst,andifthatconditionistrue,thentheformulaperformsthecalculationassociatedwiththat
condition.Iftheconditionisnttrue,thenitmovesontothesecond,andsoon.Butifyougetyourconditionsoutoforder,thenone
conditioncaninvalidatethenextandrenderyourformula(s)useless.OneoftheinherentweaknesseswithIFstatementsisthat
theyneedtobepreciseandordered.
Whilebothoftheseformulasworkfine,they'reunwieldyandshouldbeavoidedifatallpossible.Why?Primarilybecausethedata
intheformulasisstatic,soiftheconditionsdrivingtheformulaeverneedtobechanged,theformulaneedstobemanuallyadjusted
asaresult.Granted,thegradesexampleisn'ttoobad,becauseit'snotlikelythatinformationwillchangetoooften,butjustimagine
howmuchworkyou'dhavetodoifyouhavealotofformulaslikethecommissionexample,andyouhavetochangethecriteria.
Ideally,you'llgetintothehabitofonlyusingIFstatementsforTextcomparisonsliketheearlierexample.Yes/No/Maybeor
Male/Femaleevaluationsareverycommon,andthenicethingaboutthemisthatcriteriaarentlikelytochangeveryoften.Ifyou
findyourselfwithsituationslikethisthenbyallmeansuseIFstatements,otherwiseit'stimetomoveuptomorerobustalternatives,
startingwithLOOKUP.
OneoftheprimaryreasonstomoveawayfromIFstatementsformultiplecriteriaissothatyoucanuse"tablebased"reference
data.Thisgivesyoutheabilitytohaveyourdatapointsonaworksheet,wherethevaluescanbeeasilychanged,asopposedto
hardcodedinaformula,wherechangingthevaluescanbeachallenge.ManyworkbookshavebrokenbecauseofnumerousIF
statementsthatsomeonedidntupdate.Inthecommissionexampleabove,whatwouldhappenifyouneededtochangethe2%
andyouhadhundredsofformulasdependingonthatone?Itwouldntbefun,andthatsarelativelysmallexample.Imagineone
with64conditions!Andthatsifyoucanevenfindtheformulainthefirstplace!Tablebaseddependenciesaremucheasierto
changeonthefly,whichcanmeanalotespeciallyifyouredealingwithcomplexmodelsandtestingmultiplecriteria.
Note:datatablesthatdrivereferentialformulasdontneedtobehousedintheopenwhereuserscanchangethem.Veryoftenyoullfindsensitive
tableshousedonhiddenworksheets,whereonlythecreator/administratorcanchangethedata.

ThefirstformulainthefamilyofreferentialformulasisLOOKUP(theyrecalledreferentialformulasbecausetheycanreturna
referencetoavalue,oravalueinarangeofvalues).LOOKUPhasplentyofuses,butitsalsothemostfragileandleastflexiblein
theLookupfamily.

FollowingareexamplesofaDiscounttable,andaGradestableusingastandardLOOKUPfunction:

ALOOKUPformulaevaluatesavalue(eitherhardcodedorinacell)thenfindsamatchforitinatablethatliststhevaluestobe
lookedup,andthevaluestoreturn.IntheseexamplesImusingLOOKUPtoreturnavariablerangefromalistofvalues.LOOKUPis
governedbythefollowingsyntax:
=LOOKUP(Valueyouwanttolookup,rangewhereyouwanttoreturntherightmostvalue).
NOTE:LOOKUPformulascanlookupahardcodedvalue,ortheycanlookupavaluefromacell.
=VLOOKUP(900,A2:B23)&LOOKUP(A5,A2:B23)doexactlythesamething,butthelatterismuchmoreflexiblesinceyoudonthavetochangethe900
valuewheneveryouwanttochangethelookupvalue.Youshouldalwaystrytousecellreferencesinformulasasopposedtohardcodedvalues.

Sointheexampleabove,=LOOKUP(A5,A2:B23)willlookinrangeA2:A23forthevalueclosesttowhatwasenteredincellA5,and
returnthecorrespondingvaluefromcolumnB.Inthiscase,lookingfor$900resultsina2%resultbymatching$750,whichisthe
largestvaluethatslessthanorequaltothevalueevaluatedbytheformula.Hadyouenteredavaluebetween$1,000and$1,249
theresultwouldhavebeen3%.NotethattheLOOKUPformularequiresyourdatatobesortedinAscendingorder,otherwiseits
notgoingtoprovideyouwithconsistentorcorrectresults.AquicknoteonLOOKUPanditscounterpartVLOOKUPisthattheycan
onlylooktotherightofthelookupvalue;theycantgototheleft.ForthatyouneedtocombineINDEX/MATCH,whichwillbe
coveredlater.

VLOOKUPThisisthebigbrothertotherelativelylimitedLOOKUP,andgivesyoumoreflexibilitywithregardstowhatdatayoucan
returnandwhere.VLOOKUPfollowsthissyntax:
=VLOOKUP(Valueyouwanttolookup,rangewhereyouwanttolookupthevalue,numberofcolumnstotherightofthe
foundvalue,ExactMatchorApproximateMatchIndicatedwith0/FALSEor1/TRUE).
SowhereLOOKUPisgoingtoreturnavaluefromtherightmostcolumnintherangethatyouspecify,VLOOKUPletsyoulookupa
multicolumnrange,andchoosewhichcolumnfromwhichtoreturnavalue.VLOOKUPisveryoftenusedinfinancescenarioswith
12Monthperiodsbecauseyoucaneasilychoosewhichmonthtoreturn.

Notethefirsttwoformulasusestaticcolumnreferences(2&3),whichtelltheformulatoreturnvaluesfromthesecondandthird
columnsrespectively:
=VLOOKUP($A8,$A$2:$M$4,2,FALSE)
=VLOOKUP($A8,$A$2:$M$4,3,FALSE)
Thisisallwellandgood,andformanymodelslikethisoneitsok,butitcanbetimeconsumingtohavetogointoeachformulaand
adjustthosecolumnreferences.Thelatterformulas(Marchforward)useatricktomakethecolumnsdynamicbyusingthe
COLUMN()functioninstead:
=VLOOKUP($A8,$A$2:$M$4,COLUMN(),FALSE)
SointhecaseofMarch,itsthe4thcolumntotheright,andCOLUMN()returnsa4,whichfeedsthecorrectnumbertotherestofthe
formula.Butthisexampleassumesthatyoullhavearelativelystaticdatasetliketheoneabove.Butwhatifyourcolumnheaders
arentalwaysthesame?ThenextexampleshowsyouhowtobuildadynamicVLOOKUPwhereyoudonthavetoknowtheheaders
orwheretheyrelocated,yousimplyhavetheformuladoitforyou.


Inthisexampleyoucoulduse:=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,2,FALSE),butyouwouldneedtomanuallyadjustthecolumnreference
accordingly,knowingthatNameiscolumn2,Departmentiscolumn5,Earningscolumn6,andRegioncolumn4.Oryoucan
introducetheMATCHformula.UsingMATCH,youdontneedtoknowthecolumnheaders,becauseyoutelltheformulatofind
themforyou.
TheformulasinB5:E5are(theredtextindicateswheretheformulasaredifferent):
=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH(B4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)
=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH(C4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)

=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH(D4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)
=VLOOKUP($A5,$A$9:$F$48,MATCH(E4,$A$8:$F$8,0),FALSE)
ThisisverysimilartousingtheCOLUMN()functioninthepreviousexample,exceptthistimethecolumnsarentinorder,sowe
cantusethat.InsteadweuseMATCH,whichfindsthevaluewespecify.InthiscasewematchtheheadervaluesinB4:E4(Name,
Department,Earnings,andRegion)withthecorrespondingheadersinA8:F8.MATCHreturnsanumericmatchfromthebeginning
ofthedataseriestotheend,soNameis2,Departmentis5,andsoon.
MATCHsyntaxisasfollows:
=MATCH(Valueorcellyouwanttofind,Rangetolookin,0=Onlyfindanexactmatch).
NOTE:Ifyouleavethe0outorputa1,theformulawillfindtheclosestapproximatematch.

NextintheLOOKUPfamilyoffunctionsisHLOOKUP.WhereVLOOKUPisaverticallookup,lookingfromlefttorightinarange,
HLOOKUPisahorizontallookup,whichgoesfromtopdowninarange.
HLOOKUPssyntaxisverysimilartoVLOOKUP:
=HLOOKUP(Valueyouwanttolookup,Rangeyouwanttolookin,numberofrowsdowntoreturnavalue,TRUE/FALSE)
NOTE:Hereagain,1/TRUEwillreturnanapproximatematch,while0/FALSEwillreturnanexactmatch.

InthiscaseImdoingadynamicHLOOKUPsothatIdonthavetoknowthepositionsoftherowsthatIwanttoreturn.

WheretheformulasinC5:E5are:
=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,MATCH(C4,$A$7:$A$16,0),FALSE)
=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,MATCH(D4,$A$7:$A$16,0),FALSE)
=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,MATCH(E4,$A$7:$A$16,0),FALSE)
SoforC5,ImlookingforthevalueinB5(Qtr3)inA7:F16,andMATCHisreturningthe4throwdownforGrossProfit.Withoutthe
MATCHformulaitwouldbe:
=HLOOKUP($B5,$A$7:$F$16,4,FALSE)

Andyouwouldneedtomanuallyadjusttherowreferencesasyoucopiedtheformula,soyoudneedtomanuallydeterminewhere
GrossProfit,NetProfitandProfit%fellwithinthatrangeandadjusttheformulatosuit.
Finally,weremovingontowhatisprobablythemostpowerfuloflookupcombinations,whichiswhenyouuseINDEX&MATCH
together.YouvealreadyseenhowyoucanuseMATCHtomakelookupsmoredynamic,butwhathappensifyouneedtodoa
lookuptotheleft,whenLOOKUPsonlygototheright?INDEX/MATCHisthesolution,andonceyougetthehangofit,youllbe
surprisedhoweasyitis.
YouknowthatMATCHreturnsareferenceforavaluefoundinatablebygivingyouthevaluespositioninthetable.INDEXreturns
aROW&COLUMNreferenceinarangebasedonwhatrow&columnyoutellittolookin,so:
=INDEX(A1:B10,1,2)
WouldreturnthevalueincellB1,whereINDEXssyntaxis:
=INDEX(Rangeyouwanttolookin,#ofrowstolookdownfromthetopoftherange,#ofcolumnstolooktotherightof
therange).
Butwait,youmightbethinkingthatscontrarytowhatIsaidaboutINDEX/MATCHbeingabletolookleft!Dontworry,theycanand
thefollowingexampleshowshow:
Note:aswithLOOKUPsyoucanreturnamatchingvalueinthesamecolumnasthelookupvalue,butthatsgenerallypointlessunlessyourejusttrying
toseeifavalueactuallyexistsinatable.

Inthiscase,wereusingtheEmployeeNametoreturntheothervaluesinthelist.SomearetotherightofEmployeeNameand
someareontheleft.Thevariousformulasareasfollows:
EmployeeID#: =INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A5,$A$11:$F$11,0))
SSN:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A6,$A$11:$F$11,0))

Region:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A7,$A$11:$F$11,0))

Department:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A8,$A$11:$F$11,0))

Earnings:

=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A9,$A$11:$F$11,0))

TheonlyvariationintheformulasisA5:A9,whereImtellingitwhatcolumnheadertofindintheinformationtable.
SotheINDEXformulasaysLookintherangeA12:F51andfirstfindtherownumberthatholdstheemployeenameinB12:B51,then
findthecolumnnumberthatholdstheheader(EmployeeID#,SSN,Region,etc.)inA11:F11,andreturntheintersectionofthose
twovalues.SointhisexampleforSandyStewart,forEmployeeID#,Iwantthe4throwinthefirstcolumn,whichistotheleftofthe
namecolumnwerelookingin.Sothatshowyoucanlookuptotheleft.
Nowyoumightbethinkingthatsabithardtofathomallatonce,andfranklyitcanbe,buttheresatricktobuildingcomplex
formulaslikethis:youdothemonestepatatime.YoullseethedetailofhowIgothereinthesampleworkbook,butIllwalkyou
throughitjustincase.
First,sinceIknowIllbeusingEmployeenameastheprimarydriverfortherestoftheformula,Istarttherebymatchingasample
nameintheNamecolumn.Inthiscase,SandyStewartisrow4,whichIfindwithaMATCHformula:
=MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0)SofindSandysnameincolumnBandgivemeanexactmatch.
ThenstartingwithEmployeeID#,whichIknowiscolumn1,Itakethe4andaddittoanINDEXformula:
=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,4,1)
WhichgivesmeE033,andthatsthefourthrowinthefirstcolumn.
NowIneedtoreplacethe4andthe1.Ialreadyhavethe4,soIcanaddthatnext:
=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),1)
NextIneedtofindthe1forEmployeeID#,whichIcandowithanotherMATCHformula:
=MATCH($A5,$A$11:$F$11,0)
Finally,Ireplacethe1withmynewMATCHformula:
=INDEX($A$12:$F$51,MATCH($B$4,$B$12:$B$51,0),MATCH($A5,$A$11:$F$11,0))
Nowyoucancopythefinalformuladown,andaslongasyougotyourAbsolutereferencesrightitwillautomaticallyupdateforeach
cellitscopiedinto.