Excel SUMIFS: How to Sum Only Values Meeting Multiple Criteria

Entering the Tutorial Data

The first step to using the SUMIFS function in Excel is to input the data.

Enter the data into cells D1 to F11 of an Excel worksheet, as seen in the image above.

The SUMIFS function and the search criteria (less than 275 orders and sales agents from the East sales region) goes in row 12 below the data.

The SUMIFS Function's Syntax

In Excel, a function's syntax refers to the layout of the function and includes the function's name, brackets, and arguments.

The syntax for the SUMIFS function is:

= SUMIFS (Sum_range,Criteria_range1,Criteria1,Criteria_range2,Criteria2, ...)

Starting the SUMIFS Function

Although it is possible to just the SUMIFS function directly into a cell in a worksheet, many people find it easier to use the function's dialog box to enter the function.

1. Click cell F12 to make it the active cell; F12 is where you will enter the SUMIFS function.
2. Click the Formulas tab.
3. Click Math & Trig in the Function Library group.
4. Click SUMIFS in the list to bring up the SUMIFS function's dialog box.

1. Click cell F12 to make it the active cell so you can enter the SUMIFS function.
2. Click the Insert Function button. The Insert Function dialog box opens.
3. Click Math & Trig in the Categories list.
4. Click SUMIFS in the list to start the function.

The data that we enter into the blank lines in the dialog box will form the arguments of the SUMIFS function.

These arguments tell the function what conditions we are testing for and what range of data to sum when it meets those conditions.

Entering the Sum_range Argument

The Sum_range argument contains the cell references to the data we want to add up.

In this tutorial, the data for the Sum_range argument goes in the Total Sales column.

Tutorial Steps

1. Click the Sum_range line in the dialog box.
2. Highlight cells F3 to F9 in the worksheet to add these cell references to the Sum_range line.

Entering the Criteria_range1 Argument

In this tutorial we are trying to match two criteria in each data record:

1. Sales agents from the East sales region
2. Sales agents who have made fewer than 275 sales this year

The Criteria_range1 argument indicates the range of cells the SUMIFS is to search when trying to match the first criteria: the East sales region.

Tutorial Steps

1. Click the Criteria_range1 line in the dialog box.
2. Highlight cells D3 to D9 in the worksheet to enter these cell references as the range to be searched by the function.

Entering the Criteria1 Argument

The first criteria we are looking to match is if data in the range D3:D9 equals East.

Although actual data, such as the word East, can be entered into the dialog box for this argument it is usually best to add the data to a cell in the worksheet and then input that cell reference into the dialog box.

Tutorial Steps

1. Click the Criteria1 line in the dialog box.
2. Click cell D12 to enter that cell reference. The function will search the range selected in the previous step for data that matches these criteria.

How Cell References Increase SUMIFS Versatility

If a cell reference, such as D12, is entered as the Criteria Argument, the SUMIFS function will look for matches to whatever data is in that cell in the worksheet.

So after finding the sales amount for the East region, it will be easy to locate the same data for another sales region simply by changing East to North or West in cell D12. The function will automatically update and display the new result.

Entering the Criteria_range2 Argument

The Criteria_range2 argument indicates the range of cells the SUMIFS is to search when trying to match the second criteria: sales agents who have sold fewer than 275 orders this year.

1. Click the Criteria_range2 line in the dialog box.
2. Highlight cells E3 to E9 in the worksheet to enter these cell references as the second range to be searched by the function.

Entering the Criteria2 Argument

The second standard we are looking to match is if data in the range E3:E9 is less than 275 sales orders.

As with the Criteria1 argument, we will enter the cell reference to Criteria2's location into the dialog box rather than the data itself.

1. Click the Criteria2 line in the dialog box.
2. Click cell E12 to enter that cell reference. The function will search the range selected in the previous step for data that matches the criteria.
3. Click OK to complete the SUMIFS function and close the dialog box.

An answer of zero (0) will appear in cell F12 (the cell where we entered the function) because we have not yet added the data to the Criteria1 and Criteria2 fields (C12 and D12). Until we do, there is nothing for the function to add up, and so the total stays at zero.

Adding the Search Criteria and Completing the Tutorial

The last step in the tutorial is to add data to the cells in the worksheet identified as containing the Criteria arguments.

For help with this example see the image above.

1. In cell D12 type East and press the Enter key on the keyboard.
2. In cell E12 type <275 and press the Enter key on the keyboard (the " < " is the symbol for less than in Excel).

The answer $119,719.00 should appear in cell F12.

Only two records, those in rows 3 and 4 match both criteria and, therefore, only the sales totals for those two records are summed by the function.

The sum of $49,017 and $70,702 is $119,719.

When you click on cell F12, the complete function =SUMIFS(F3:F9,D3:D9,D12,E3:E9,E12) appears in the formula bar above the worksheet.

How the SUMIFS Function Works

Usually, SUMIFS works with rows of data called records. In a record, all of the data in each cell or field in the row is related, such as a company's name, address and phone number.

The SUMIFS argument looks for specific criteria in two or more fields in the record and only if it finds a match for each field specified is the data for that record summed up.

In the SUMIF step by step tutorial, we matched the single criterion of sales agents who had sold more than 250 orders in a year.

In this tutorial, we will set two conditions using SUMIFS: that of sales agents in the East sales region who had fewer than 275 sales in the past year.

Setting more than two conditions can be done by specifying additional Criteria_range and Criteria arguments for SUMIFS.