Situation
Not always we want to lookup values based on one search parameter. For eg. Imagine you have data like below and you want to find how much sales Joseph made in January 2007 in North region for product “Fast car”?
Data:
Solution
Simple, use your index finger to scan the list and find the match 😉
Of course, that wouldn’t be scalable. Plus, you may want to put your index finger to better use, like typing . So, lets come up with some formulas that do this for us.
You can extract items from a table that match multiple criteria in multiple ways. See the examples to understand the techniques:
| Using SUMIFS Formula [help] | |
| Formula | =SUMIFS(lstSales, lstSalesman,valSalesman, lstMonths,valMonth, lstRegion,valRegion, lstProduct,valProduct) |
| Result | 1592 |
| Using SUMPRODUCT Formula [help] | |
| Formula | =SUMPRODUCT(lstSales,(lstSalesman=valSalesman)*(lstMonths=valMonth)*(lstRegion=valRegion)* (lstProduct=valProduct)) |
| Result | 1592 |
| Using INDEX & Match Formulas (Array Formula) [help] | |
| Formula | {=INDEX(lstSales,MATCH(valSalesman&valMonth&valRegion&valProduct, lstSalesman&lstMonths&lstRegion&lstProduct,0))} |
| Result | 1592 |
| Using VLOOKUP Formula [help] | |
| Formula | =VLOOKUP(valMonth&valSalesman&valRegion&valProduct,tblData2,7,FALSE) |
| Result | 1592 |
| Conditions: | A helper column that concatenates month, salesman, region & product in the left most column of tblData2 |
| Using SUM (Array Formula) [help] | |
| Formula | {=SUM(lstSales*(lstSalesman=valSalesman)*(lstMonths=valMonth)* (lstRegion=valRegion)*(lstProduct=valProduct))} |
| Result | 1592 |
Sample File
Download Example File – Looking up Based on More than One Value
Go ahead and download the file. It also has some homework for you to practice these formula tricks.
Also checkout the examples Vinod has prepared.
Special Thanks to
Rohit1409, dan l, John, Godzilla, Vinod
Similar Tips
- Excel SUMIFS Formula – What is it, how to use it & examples
- Excel SUMPRODUCT Formula – What is it, how to use it & examples
3 Responses to “Top 5 Excel Skills you need to be a Successful Data Analyst in 2023 (podcast)”
Thanks Chandoo, some great helpful tips here. I'm quite good at Excel (mainly thanks to you!) but I'm always learning. I love the link you gave above to Dynamic Arrays & Spill Ranges, I understand them a bit more now, and can see some uses for them.
I am glad you enjoyed the show Dermot.
Great to see you back! Enjoyed when you first started the podcast and super excited to start listening to you again!