The Excel SUM Function

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Related Functions:  AVERAGE function PRODUCT function SUMIF function

Basic Description

The Excel SUM function adds together a supplied set of numbers and returns the sum of these values.

The syntax of the function is :

where the number arguments are a set of numbers (or arrays of numbers) that you want to find the sum of. These can be supplied to the function either directly, as values returned from other functions, or as references to cells containing numeric values.

In Excel 2007 or 2010, you can enter up to 255 number arguments to the Excel Sum function, but in Excel 2003, the function can only handle up to 30 arguments. However, each argument can consist of an array of values or a range of cells, each of which can contain many values.

Which Values are Included in the Excel Sum Function Calculation?

Numbers and dates are always counted as numeric values by the Excel Sum function. However, text representations and logical values are handled differently, depending on whether they are values stored in the cells of your spreadsheet, or they are supplied directly to the function.

The table below summarises which values are included in the Excel Sum Function calculation, and which values are ignored or result in errors:

Excel Sum Function Examples

The following spreadsheet shows the Excel Sum function used to calculate the sum of the numbers 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9. In each of the five examples, the numbers are supplied to the Sum function differently.

The spreadsheet on the left shows the formulas and the spreadsheet on the right shows the results.

Note that, in the above example spreadsheet:

• the numbers can be supplied to the function either directly, as results of other Excel formulas or as cell references.
• each argument can be supplied as a single value or cell, or as an array of values or cells (note that in cell B5, the argument {5,6,7} is an array of numbers).
• when supplied directly to the function, text representations of numbers are included in the Sum calculation.

Further examples of the Excel Sum function can be found on the Microsoft Office website.

Sum Function Errors

If you get an error from the Excel Sum Function, this is likely to be the #VALUE! error: