EDUCBA Logo

EDUCBA

MENUMENU
  • Explore
    • EDUCBA Pro
    • PRO Bundles
    • Featured Skills
    • New & Trending
    • Fresh Entries
    • Finance
    • Data Science
    • Programming and Dev
    • Excel
    • Marketing
    • HR
    • PDP
    • VFX and Design
    • Project Management
    • Exam Prep
    • All Courses
  • Blog
  • Enterprise
  • Free Courses
  • Log in
  • Sign Up
Home Excel Excel Resources Maths Function in Excel Calculations in Excel
 

Calculations in Excel

Arun Gupta
Article byArun Gupta
Madhuri Thakur
Reviewed byMadhuri Thakur

Updated May 9, 2023

calculations in excel

 

 

How to Calculate in Excel (Table of Contents)

Watch our Demo Courses and Videos

Valuation, Hadoop, Excel, Mobile Apps, Web Development & many more.

  • Introduction to Calculations in Excel
  • Examples of Calculations in Excel

Introduction to Calculations in Excel

The following article provides an outline for Calculations in Excel. MS Excel is the most preferred option for calculation; most investment bankers and financial analysts use it to do data crunching, prepare presentations, or model data.

There are two ways to perform the Excel calculation: Formula and the second is Function. The formula is the normal arithmetic operation like summation, multiplication, subtraction, etc. The function is the inbuilt formula like SUM (), COUNT (), COUNTA (), COUNTIF (), SQRT (), etc.

Operator Precedence: It will use default order to calculate; if there is some operation in parentheses, then it will calculate that part first, then multiplication or division after that addition or subtraction. It is the same as the BODMAS rule.

Examples of Calculations in Excel

Here are some examples of How to Use Excel to Calculate Basic calculations.

You can download this Calculations Excel Template here – Calculations Excel Template

Example #1 – Basic Calculations like Multiplication, Summation, Subtraction, and Square Root

Here we will learn how to do basic calculations like multiplication, summation, subtraction, and square root in Excel.

Let’s assume a user wants to perform calculations like multiplication, summation, and subtraction by 4 and find out the square root of all numbers in Excel.

Let’s see how we can do this with the help of calculations.

Step 1: Open an Excel sheet. Go to sheet 1 and insert the data as shown below.

calculations in excel example 1.1

Step 2: Create headers for Multiplication, Summation, Subtraction, and Square Root in row one.

calculations in excel example 1.2

Step 3: Now calculate the multiplication by 4. Use the equal sign to calculate. Write in cell C2 and use asterisk symbol (*) to multiply “=A2*4“

calculations in excel example 1.3

Step 4: Now press the Enter key; multiplication will be calculated.

calculations in excel example 1.4

Step 5: Drag the same formula to the C9 cell to apply to the remaining cells.

calculations in excel example 1.5

Step 6: Now calculate subtraction by 4. Use an equal sign to calculate. Write in cell D2 “=A2-4“

calculations in excel example 1.6

Step 7: Now click the Enter key to calculate the subtraction.

calculations in excel example 1.7

Step 8: Drag the same formula till cell D9 to apply it to the remaining cells.

calculations in excel example 1.8

Step 9: Now calculate the addition by 4; use an equal sign to calculate. Write in E2 Cell “=A2+4“

calculations in excel example 1.9

Step 10: Now press the Enter key to calculate the addition.

calculations in excel example 1.10

Step 11: Add the same formula to the E9 cell to the remaining cells.

calculations in excel example 1.11

Step 12: Now calculate the square root>> use equal sign to calculate >> Write in F2 Cell >> “=SQRT (A2“

calculations in excel example 1.12

Step 13: Now, press on the Enter key >> square root will be calculated.

calculations in excel example 1.13

Step 14: Drag the same formula till the F9 cell to apply the remaining cell.

calculations in excel example 1.14

Summary of Example 1: As the user wants to perform calculations like multiplication, summation, and subtraction by 4 and find out the square root of all numbers in MS Excel.

Example #2 – Basic Calculations like Summation, Average, and Counting

Here we will learn how to use Excel to calculate basic calculations like summation, average, and counting.

Let’s assume a user wants to find out total sales, average sales, and the total number of products available in his stock for sale.

Let’s see how we can do this with the help of calculations.

Step 1: Open an Excel sheet. Go to Sheet 1 and insert the data as shown below.

calculations in excel example 2.1

Step 2: Create headers for the Result table, Grand Total, Number of Product, and Average Sale of his product in column D.

calculations in excel example 2.2

Step 3: Now calculate total sales. Use the SUM function to calculate the total. Write in cell E3. “=SUM (”

calculations in excel example 2.3

Step 4: Now, it will ask for the numbers, so give the data range, which is available in column B. Write in cell E3. “=SUM (B2:B11) “

calculations in excel example 2.4

Step 5: Now press the Enter key. Total sales will be calculated.

calculations in excel example 2.5

Step 6: Now calculate the total number of products in the stock; use the COUNT function to calculate the total. Write in cell E4 “=COUNT (“

CIE example 2.6

Step 7: Now, it will ask for the values, so give the data range, which is available in column B. Write in cell E4. “=COUNT (B2:B11) “

CIE example 2.7

Step 8: Now press the Enter key. The total number of products will be calculated.

CIE example 2.8

Step 9: Now calculate the average sale of products in the stock; use the AVERAGE function to calculate the average sale. Write in cell E5. “=AVERAGE (”

CIE example 2.9

Step 10: Now, it will ask for the numbers, so give the data range in column B. Write in cell E5. “=AVERAGE (B2:B11) “

CIE example 2.10

Step 11: Now click on the Enter key. The average sale of products will be calculated.

CIE example 2.11

Summary of Example 2: As the user wants to find out total sales, average sales, and the total number of products available in his stock for sale. 

Things to Remember about Calculations in Excel

  • During calculations, if there are some operations in parentheses, it will calculate that part first, then multiplication or division after that addition or subtraction.
  • It is the same as the BODMAS rule: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction.
  • When a user enters an equal symbol (=) in a cell, they enter a formula rather than a value.
  • A small difference from the normal mathematics symbol like multiplication uses an asterisk symbol (*), and division uses a forward-slash (/).
  • There is no need to write the same formula for each cell; once it is written, copy-paste it to other cells, and it will calculate automatically.
  • A user can use the SQRT function to calculate the square root of any value; it has only one parameter. But a user cannot calculate the square root for a negative number; it will throw an error #NUM!

CIE SQRT function

  • If a negative value occurs as output, use the ABS formula to determine the absolute value, an in-built MS Excel function.
  • A user can use the COUNTA in-built function if there is confusion in the data type because COUNT supports only numeric values.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to Calculations in Excel. Here we discuss how to use Excel to calculate, along with examples and a downloadable Excel template. You may also look at the following articles to learn more –

  1. Create a Lookup Table in Excel
  2. Use of COLUMNS Formula in Excel
  3. CHOOSE Formula in Excel with Examples
  4. What is Chart Wizard in Excel?

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Follow us!
  • EDUCBA FacebookEDUCBA TwitterEDUCBA LinkedINEDUCBA Instagram
  • EDUCBA YoutubeEDUCBA CourseraEDUCBA Udemy
APPS
EDUCBA Android AppEDUCBA iOS App
Blog
  • Blog
  • Free Tutorials
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Log in
Courses
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Free Courses
  • Explore Programs
  • All Courses
  • All in One Bundles
  • Sign up
Email
  • [email protected]

ISO 10004:2018 & ISO 9001:2015 Certified

© 2025 - EDUCBA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CERTIFICATION NAMES ARE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
Loading . . .
Quiz
Question:

Answer:

Quiz Result
Total QuestionsCorrect AnswersWrong AnswersPercentage

Explore 1000+ varieties of Mock tests View more

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA
Free Excel Course

Excel functions, formula, charts, formatting creating excel dashboard & others

By continuing above step, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

EDUCBA

Download Calculations Excel Template

EDUCBA Login

Forgot Password?

EDUCBA

Download Calculations Excel Template

EDUCBA

डाउनलोड Calculations Excel Template

🚀 Limited Time Offer! - 🎁 ENROLL NOW