CFI-Excel-eBook

The Corporate Finance Institute Excel
Things to remember about the IF Function
1. The Excel IF function will work if the logical_test returns a numeric value. In
such case, any non-zero value is treated as TRUE and zero is treated as
FALSE.
2. #VALUE! error – Occurs when the given logical_test argument cannot be
evaluated as TRUE or FALSE.
3. When any of the arguments is provided to the function as arrays, the IF
function will evaluate every element of the array.
4. If we wish to count conditions, we should use the COUNTIF and COUNTIFS
functions.
5. If we wish to add up conditions, we should use the SUMIF and SUMIFS
functions.
Reasons to use an Excel IF Statement
There are many reasons why an analyst or anyone who uses Excel would want
to build IF formulas.
Common examples include:
• To test if an argument is true or false
• To output a NUMBER
• To output some TEXT
• To generate a conditional formula (i.e. the result is C3+B4 if true and
N9-E5 if false)
• To create scenarios to be used in financial modeling
• To calculate a debt schedule or fixed asset depreciation schedule in
accounting
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