The Average Function in Excel 2007 / 2010

If you're trying to work out an average, you're trying to calculate what the most common value is. For example, if a class of eight students took exams, you may want to know what the average exam score was. In other words, what result most students can expect to get. In order to calculate an average, you'd add up all eight exam scores and divide by how many students took the exam. So if the total for all eight students was 400, dividing by 8 would get you 50 as the average grade. If any students were below the average, you can tell at a glance.

In Excel , there is an easy way to calculate the average of some numbers - just use the inbuilt Average function.
Start a new spreadsheet and enter the following exams scores in cells A1 to A8, as in the image below:

Click in cell A9, and we'll see how to use the Average function in Excel 2007. There are two ways we can do this. Try method 1 first.

Method 1

Next to the formula bar, you'll see an FX button. This is the Formula Wizard:

When you click the FX button, you'll see the Insert Function dialogue box appear:

The Insert Function dialogue box shows a list functions. These are the just the common ones. To see more functions, click the drop down list to the right of Select a category. The one we want is displayed under Select a function, though - Average. Click on this, and then click OK.

When you click OK, another dialogue box appears. On this dialogue box, you select the data that you want to include in your function:

If you look in the Number1 box, you'll see Excel has guessed which cells we want to use for our Average function - A1:A8. It evens gives the answer to the Function - 6.625.

Click OK to insert the function.

Method 2

The second way to enter a Function in Excel is through the panels on the Ribbon. Try this:

• Click inside cell B9 on your spreadsheet. This is where we'll place the Average for the cells A1 to A8.
• Click the Formulas menu at the top of Excel
• Locate the Function Library panel. Here it is in Excel 2007

And here it is in later versions:

As you can see, in Excel functions are split into categories. The Average function is in a few places. The easiest way to use Average is with AutoSum. Click the down arrow on AutoSum to see the following:

Now click Average from the menu. Because the answer is going in cell B9, Excel doesn't know which cells you want to use in the function, so it can't give you a quick answer. AutoSum is good when the data is in the same row or column. But when it's not, you have to tell it what to calculate.

So click inside cell A1 and you'll see the cell selected

Hold down your left mouse button over the bottom right blue square, and drag to cell A8:

Excel fills in the cells for your function. Let go of the left mouse button, and then press the Enter key on your keyboard. The correct answer is place in cell B9:

You can also find the Average function on the More Functions menu. Click Statistical, and you'll see it there:

Of course, once you know the correct function, you could simply type it all out in the Formula bar yourself!

Try this exercise.
Exercise
You start your own online business and find that sales for the first week are these:
Monday £120.45
Tuesday £187.43
Wednesday £106.87
Thursday £143.69
Friday £117.52
Saturday £87.93
Sunday £92.12
Use a function to work out how much you earned, on average, each day.

In the next part, we'll take a look at Date functions in Excel.

Financial Functions in Microsoft Excel 2007 / 2010

The financial function we're going to explore is called PMT( ). You use this function when you want to calculate things like the monthly payment amounts on a loan, or how much per month a mortgage will cost you. We'll use it to work out how much per month a loan will cost us. Here's what we'll do.

We've decided to take out a loan of ten thousand pounds from our friendly banker. We're going to be paying it back over 5 years. The question is, how much per month is this going to cost us?

The PMT( ) Function in Excel

The PMT( ) function expects certain values in between its two round brackets. The values that go in round brackets are known as arguments. The arguments for the PMT( ) function are these:

PMT(rate, nper, pv, fv, type)

Only the first three are needed, and you can miss the final two out, if you like.
We'll work out our monthly loan costs with the help of the PMT( ) function. First, create a new spreadsheet like the one below:

If you look at cell B1 on the spreadsheet, you'll see a figure of £10, 000. This is the amount we want to borrow. The labels on Row 3 show what else we need: An interest rate, the number of payments we'll make over the 5 years, the present value of the loan, the amount we'll have to pay back each month, and the total amount paid back after 5 years. But we only need the first three for our PMT() function.

In cell A4, we'll need an interest rate. In cell B4 we'll need the number of payments, and in cell D4 we'll need the Present Value of the loan. First is interest rate.
Imagine that the interest rate given to us by the bank is 24 percent per year. For the PMT( ) function, we need to divide this figure by 12 (the number of months in a year) So try this:

• Click into cell A4 on your spreadsheet
• Enter the following formula:

= 24% / 12

• Hit the enter key to see the answer appear, as in the image below:

Now that we have an interest rate, the next thing we need for the PMT( ) function is how many payments there are in total. We have to pay something back every month for 5 years. Which is a simple formula. So,

• Click into B4 on your spreadsheet and enter the following:

= 12 * 5

• Hit the enter key to see a figure of 60 as the answer.

This figure of 60 is for the second argument of the PMT( ) function - the nper. This is just the number of payments.

Now that you have a figure in cell A4 (rate), and a figure in cell B4 (nper), there's only one more to go - the Present Value (pv).
The Present Value of a loan, also known as the Principal, is what the loan is worth at the present time. Since we haven't made any payments yet, this is just 10, 000 for us.

• Click into cell C4 on your spreadsheet and enter the following:

= B1

• Hit the enter key
• You'll see a figure of 10, 000 appear, and your spreadsheet should now look ours below:

OK, we now have all the parts for our PMT() function: a rate (A4), an nper (B4), and a pv (C4). Try this:

• Click into cell D4 on your spreadsheet
• Enter the following function:

=PMT(A4, B4, C4)

Hit the enter key on your keyboard, and you'll see the monthly amount appear. The figure you should have is -£287.68. The reason there is a minus sign before the total is because it's a debt: what you owe to the bank.
But this is what your spreadsheet should look like:

The only thing left to do is see how much this loan will cost us at the end of 5 years. All you need to do here is multiply the monthly amount in cell D4 by the number of payments in cell B4. Enter your formula for this in cell E4, and you spreadsheet will look like ours below:

So a ten thousand pounds loan, at the interest rate the bank is offering, means we'll have to pay back just over 17 thousand pounds over 5 years.

Tweaking the Values

We can change the spreadsheet slightly to give us more control. For your figure in cell B4, the number of payments, you entered 12 * 5. This is 12 months multiplied by 5 years. But what if we wanted to pay the loan back over 10 years, or 15? How much will our monthly payments then be? And will be the final cost of the loan?
Also, the interest rate seems a bit high. What if we can get a better rate elsewhere?
By making a few changes to or spreadsheet, we can amend these values more easily. First we'll need two new rows.

Inserting New Rows in Excel

We need to insert new rows in our spreadsheet. To insert a new row, click into cell A2. Then click on the Home tab at the top of Excel. Locate the Cells panel, and click the Insert item:

From the Insert menu, click on Insert Sheet Rows:

Excel will insert a new row for you. Do this again to get two blank rows. Add two new labels, Num of Years and Interest. Your spreadsheet sheet will then look like this:

Adapting the PMT Formula

We can adapt the formulas we've entered so far, in order to make them more usable. As an example, we'll adapt the interest rate.
To get the interest rate for cell A4, we entered a formula:

= 24% / 12

Instead of having the interest rate in cell A4, however, we can place it at the top, in cell B3 on our new Row. We can then alter the interest rate by simply typing a new one in cell B3. To clear all that up, try the following:

• Click inside cell B3, which is the Interest cell in the image above
• Click inside the formula bar
• Type in = 24%
• Cell B3 should now read 24.00% (In Excel 2010 and 2013 you may have to format the cell to a Percentage value from the Home tab then the Numer item.)

To change the formula for your interest rate click inside of cell A6. Change the formula from this:

= 24% / 12

to this:

= B3 / 12

Hit the enter key on your keyboard and nothing should change on your spreadsheet. But the difference is that you can enter a new interest rate in cell B3, and see how this effects the loan amounts. Try it out by typing 23% in cell B3:

As you can see, the interest rate has changed to a rather long figure. But notice the Monthly Amount - it has gone down to £281.90. The total amount we have to pay back has changed, too. Play around with the interest rate in cell B3, just to get a feel for how it works.

Exercise

In cell B6 of your spreadsheet, you have the following formula:

= 12 * 5

This calculates the number of months for the loan. Change this formula so that the number of years is coming from B2. Your finished spreadsheet should look like ours below:

If you play around with the values in cells B1, B2 and B3 you should be able quickly see the new loan repayments.

In the next part, you'll see what Conditonal Logic is, and how to use it in Excel. First, try this project. It's all to do with Averages, so shouldn't cause you too many problems.

CountIF formula in Excel 2007 / 2010

Another useful function that uses Conditional Logic is CountIF. This one is fairly straightforward. As its name suggests, it counts things! But it counts things IF a condition is met. For example, keep a count of how many students have an A Grade.

To get you started with this function, we'll use our Student Grade spreadsheet and count how many students have a score of 70 or above. First, add the following label to your spreadsheet:

As you can see, we've put our new label at the start of the K column.

We can now use the CountIF function to see how many of the students scored 70 or above for a given subject.
The CountIF function looks like this:

COUNTIF(range, criteria)

The function takes two arguments (the words in the round brackets). The first argument is range, and this means the range of cells you want Excel to count. Criteria means, "What do you want Excel to look for when it's counting?".
So click inside cell K2, and then click inside the formula bar at the top. Enter the following formula:

=CountIf(B2:I2, ">= 70")

The cells B2 to I2 contain the Math scores for all 8 students. It's these scores we want to count.
Press the enter key on your keyboard. Excel should give you an answer of 4:

(If you're wondering where the columns B to I have gone in the image above, we've hidden then for convenience sake!)

To do the rest of the scores, you can use AutoFill. You should then have a K column that looks like this:

By using CountIF, we can see at a glance which subjects students are doing well in, and which subjects they are struggling in.

Exercise
Add a new label to the L column. In the cells L2 to L9, work out how many students got below 50 for a given subject. You should get the same results as in the image below:

In the next part, we'll look at a function similar to CountIF - SumIF.

SumIF Formula in MS Excel 2007 / 2010

Another useful Excel function is SumIF. This function is like CountIf, except it adds one more argument:

SUMIF(range, criteria, sum_range)

Range and criteria are the same as with CountIF - the range of cells to search, and what you want Excel to look for. The Sum_Range is like range, but it searches a new range of cells. To clarify all that, here's what we'll use SumIF for. (Start a new spreadsheet for this.)
Five people have ordered goods from us. Some have paid us, but some haven't. The five people are Elisa, Kelly, Steven, Euan, and Holly. We'll use SumIF to calculate how much in total has been paid to us, and how much is still owed.

So in Column A, enter the names:

In Column B enter how much each person owes:

In Column C, enter TRUE or FALSE values. TRUE means they have paid up, and FALSE means they haven't:

Add two more labels: Total Paid, and Still Owed. Your spreadsheet should look something like this one:

In cells B10 and B11, we'll use a SumIF function to work out how much has been paid in, and how much is still owed. Here's the SumIF function again:

SUMIF(range, criteria, sum_range)

So the range of cells that we want to check are the True and False values in the C column; the criteria is whether they have paid (True); and the Sum_Range is what we want to add up (in the B column).
In cell B10, then, enter the following formula:

=SUMIF(C3:C7, TRUE, B3:B7)

When you press the enter key, Excel should give you the answer:

So 265 is has been paid in. But we told SumIF to first check the values in the cells C3 to C7 (range). Then we said look for a value of TRUE (criteria). Finally, we wanted the values in the B column adding up, if a criteria of TRUE was indeed found (sum_range).

How to Convert Excel file into PDF format

PDF stands for Portable Document Format.  This file format was created by Adobe to ease the process of transferring documents between users.  Converting your Excel file to PDF format is a useful exercise for a number of reasons.  Doing so will:

• Prevent others from editing your file
• Give your document a more professional look
• In most cases reduce the file size of your document

In the past, you had to jump through a lot of hoops and buy expensive software to perform a PDF conversion.  However, this feature is now built into the latest version of Excel (Excel 2010 as of this writing).  The problem is a lot of people still don’t know about it.

Excel’s Built in PDF Conversion

To save your Excel file as a PDF document, simply:

1. Go to the “File” section tab of the ribbon
2. Select “Save & Send” from the left hand menu
3. Under the Save & Send options, click “Create PDF/XPS Document”
4. Under the Create PDF/XPS Document options, click “Create PDF/XPS”

For those of you that have older versions of Excel, the PDF conversion function is not available.  In that case, you still have several options to convert your excel file to PDF.

Primo PDF

Primo PDF is one of the most popular software downloads for PDF conversion.  This is a program with an executable file that needs to be installed on your computer.  Once installed, Primo PDF will appear as a printer, and every time you print to it, the software will create a PDF file for you.
You can read more about the software on Primo PDF’s website:
http://www.primopdf.com/
And you can download the free version of the software from Download.com:
http://download.cnet.com/PrimoPDF/3000-18497_4-10264577.html?part=dl-10264577&subj=dl&tag=button

Online PDF Conversion Services

There are several websites that provide online PDF conversion services.  These websites allow you to upload Excel files to their servers and afterward, they’ll provide a link for you to download your file in PDF format.  I wouldn’t recommend this service if you have any sensitive information in your document, as the privacy management of these documents is unclear.
Below are a couple of websites that allow you to convert from Excel to PDF.  But honestly, these free service companies have a tendency to disappear very quickly.  Your best bet is probably just to Google the phrase “convert Excel to pdf” and pick from the results.
http://www.pdftoexcel.org/
http://www.pdfconverter.com/
http://www.freepdfconvert.com/
http://www.pdfonline.com/convert-pdf/
http://docupub.com/pdfconvert/
http://www.zamzar.com/

Adobe Acrobat Professional

Buying Adobe Acrobat is definitely the most expensive option and should only be a last resort if none of the other options above work for you.  Installing the Professional version of Adobe Acrobat (which is not just the free Adobe Acrobat Reader that everyone has) will allow you to save all of your files, including Excel spreadsheets, in PDF format.  If you do purchase this software, make sure you buy the student / teacher edition to get a discounted price.

How to Use VLOOKUP MATCH formula in Excel 2007 / 2010

VLOOKUP MATCH is one of several possible lookup formulas within Microsoft Excel.  This tutorial assumes you already have a decent understanding of how to use VLOOKUP.  If you do not, please click here for a beginner’s tutorial on VLOOKUP.

Objective

VLOOKUP MATCH is an improved variation of your basic VLOOKUP or INDEX MATCH formula.  Using VLOOKUP MATCH allows you to perform a matrix lookup – instead of just looking up a vertical value, the MATCH portion of the formula turns your column reference into a dynamic horizontal lookup as well.  VLOOKUP MATCH is mainly useful for situations where you intended to perform heavy editing on your data set after you’ve finished writing your formula.  This is because VLOOKUP MATCH gives your lookup formula insertion immunity; whenever you insert or delete a column within your lookup array, your formula will still pull the correct number.
The key difference between using VLOOKUP MATCH versus the basic VLOOKUP formula is that, in addition to your vertical lookup value (what you’ll be looking up down the left side of your table) you’ll also have a column lookup value (what you’ll be looking up across the top of your column headings).

The Syntax

VLOOKUP and MATCH are the two formulas that are combined to perform this lookup.  We’ll look at each of the formulas separately before putting them together.  The primary formula we’ll be using is VLOOKUP:

=VLOOKUP ( lookup value , table_array , col_index_num , [range_lookup] )

To use this formula, you’ll need a lookup value and a table array.  (We’ll address the column index number later and since we are not performing a range lookup, we can leave that part of the syntax blank)  In the example below, the lookup value is ID number “5” and the table array is the green box surrounding cells B6:F14.

Next we have the MATCH formula:

=MATCH ( lookup value , lookup_array , [match _type] )

The match formula returns a position number based on your lookup value’s location within the array you’ve selected.  To use this formula you’ll need both a lookup value and a lookup array.  (The match type parameter should be left blank – doing so tells Excel that we want an exact match).  In the example below, the lookup value we’ll be using is the State of “WA” and the lookup array is the orange box surrounding cells B6:F6.

Putting it Together

The key to VLOOKUP MATCH is that we are replacing the “column index number” syntax of VLOOKUP with the MATCH formula.  Perform this combination using the following steps:
Step 1: Start by typing your VLOOKUP formula as you normally would, inputting the proper lookup value and table array for your lookup; in this example the lookup value is ID number “5” and the table array is the green box surrounding cells B6:F14.

Step 2: When you get to the column index number input, instead of typing in a hard coded number, start typing in the MATCH formula

Step 3: For the MATCH formula’s lookup value, select the cell containing name of the column you want to return from; in this example we want to return a State, so we click on it

Step 4: For the MATCH formula’s lookup array, select the row headings of your table array; in this example it is the orange box surrounding cells B6:F6.

Step 5: Close off both your MATCH formula and your VLOOKUP formula with two parentheses (doing this simply confirms for Excel that we want an exact match for the MATCH formula and that we don’t want to use a range lookup for the VLOOKUP)

How it Works

The MATCH formula we created returns the value 4.  Therefore, based on how we arranged the syntax, the VLOOKUP MATCH in this state is basically performing the same function as a VLOOKUP with a column index number of 4.

However, the key difference is that this column reference is now dynamic.  If I insert or delete a column from my lookup table, my return value will stay the same.  See below for an example of the difference in return values between VLOOKUP and VLOOKUP MATCH after inserting a column.

After the insertion occurs, the VLOOKUP formula’s column reference remains 4 and is now pulling from the City field.  Your return value has changed from “WA” to “Seattle.”  However, with VLOOKUP MATCH, since you’ve indicated by name which column you want to pull from, the column reference automatically updates and therefore you maintain the “WA” return value.

Disadvantages

While VLOOKUP MATCH is clearly an improvement over the basic VLOOKUP, there are still drawbacks to using this formula.  With VLOOKUP MATCH, every lookup must still start from left to right.  This can become problematic if you want to append lookup keys to the right of your dataset.  Additionally, your return values are limited to the originally table array you’ve selected.  For example, if you were to append one or two columns to the right of your data set, you wouldn’t be able to lookup and return values from those columns without adjusting your table array.
If you want to use a matrix lookup formula combination without these specific limitations, consider using INDEX MATCH MATCH.

Why INDEX MATCH formula is Better Than VLOOKUP formula in excel

When deciding between which vertical lookup formula to use, the majority of Excel experts agree that INDEX MATCH is a better formula than VLOOKUP.  However, many people still resort to using VLOOKUP because it’s a simpler formula.  One major driver of this problem is that most people still don’t fully understand the benefits of switching from VLOOKUP, and without such an understanding, they are unwilling to invest the time to learn the more complex formula.  The purpose of this post is to describe in detail all of the benefits of using INDEX MATCH and convince you that you should use INDEX MATCH exclusively for all of your vertical lookups.

If you don’t know how to use INDEX MATCH, please click here for a detailed tutorial.  Once you’ve learned INDEX MATCH and started using the formula consistently, you’ll reduce the number of spreadsheet errors you make, become more efficient in navigating Excel, and significantly improve your ability to create complex Excel models that have a heavy database component.

Dynamic Column Reference Leads to Fewer Errors

The key difference between INDEX MATCH and VLOOKUP is that VLOOKUP requires a static column reference while INDEX MATCH uses a dynamic column reference.  With VLOOKUP, most people will input a specific, static number to indicate which column they want to return from.  When you use INDEX MATCH, the formula allows you to manually choose which column you want to pull from.
The reason this leads to fewer errors is because when you follow the INDEX MATCH syntax, you click directly on the field containing the value you want to return.

With the VLOOKUP syntax, you specify your entire table array, AND THEN you specify a column reference to indicate which column you want to pull data from.

It’s a small difference, but this additional step undoubtedly leads to more errors.  This error is especially prevalent when you have a large table array and need to visually count the number of columns you want to move over.  When you use INDEX MATCH, no such counting is required.
The next two advantages of using INDEX MATCH also come from the fact that VLOOKUP requires a static column reference input for the values you want to return.  Please note that you could get around the static reference issue by using a formula within the VLOOKUP syntax, creating a combination formula such as VLOOKUP MATCH or VLOOKUP HLOOKUP.  However, it’s much simpler just to learn INDEX MATCH and gain all the additional benefits beyond just having dynamic column reference.

Insert Column Immunity

The greatest benefit of using INDEX MATCH over VLOOKUP is the fact that, with INDEX MATCH, you can insert columns in your table array without distorting your lookup results.  Any time you work with a large dataset, there’s a good chance you’ll need to go back to edit our columns and potentially insert a new column.  With VLOOKUP, any inserted or deleted column that displaces your return values will change the results of your formulas.
Take the VLOOKUP example below.  Here, we’ve setup the formula to pull the State value from our data table.  Because it is a VLOOKUP formula, we have referenced the 4^th column.

If we insert a column in the middle of the table array, the new result is now “Seattle”; we are no longer pulling the correct value for State and must change the column reference.

INDEX MATCH has insert column immunity, so you can insert and delete columns without worrying about updating every associated lookup formula.

Easier to Drag and Copy

When working with large datasets, it’s rare to write just a single lookup formula; you’re likely going to need to drag and copy your formula to multiple cells to perform multiple lookups.  For example, let’s say that for a specific ID, I want to return a series of values from my table in the exact same order as they appear in the table.  When I try to drag and copy the standard VLOOKUP formula across (with a reference lock on both the lookup value and the table array), the lookup doesn’t work because it just pulls the same value for each entry.  This deficiency is again caused by VLOOKUP requiring a specific column reference input for your return values.

With INDEX MATCH, because you can set the return column to float (essentially by not reference locking it) the return column will move as you copy your formula over, providing you the different fields as they appear.

No Array Restriction

Another key limitation of VLOOKUP is that it requires you to specify a square table array in which your column reference cannot move beyond.  The key situation when this becomes a problem is when you append a new field to your dataset beyond your original table array.  Consider the example below:

If I append a new column to this dataset, I can’t use my original VLOOKUP formula to pull values from that new column.  If I change my column reference to “6” the formula returns an error because my table is only 5 columns wide.  To make the formula work, I’d have to update the table array I specified every time I add a new column.

With INDEX MATCH, you don’t need to specify a table array and therefore don’t face this problem.

Right to Left Lookup

One of the key benefits of using INDEX MATCH is being able to create lookup keys on the right side of your data table.  New lookup keys are generally created by running calculations on fields within your original dataset.  These keys represent your lookup column within the INDEX MATCH syntax.  When using INDEX MATCH, you can append these new lookup keys to the right side of your table and perform a right-to-left lookup to pull the values you want to return.  The INDEX MATCH syntax doesn’t care whether your lookup column is on the left or right side of your return column.

With VLOOKUP, because you can only perform a left-to-right lookup, any new lookup key you add must be on the left side of your original table array.  Therefore, every time you add a new key, you have to shift your entire dataset to the right by one column.  Not only is this annoying, but it can also interfere with existing formulas and calculations you’ve created in your spreadsheet.

Doubles as an HLOOKUP

This probably isn’t the biggest deal to most users, but it’s still worth mentioning.  A VLOOKUP restricts you to only performing vertical lookups on a table array.  I can’t, for example, lookup values across the top of my dataset and perform a horizontal lookup.  To achieve this objective, I’d need to use a completely different formula.
With INDEX MATCH, you can simply arrange both your lookup array and return array horizontally to perform an HLOOKUP.  I don’t recommend doing horizontal lookups in general, but if you ever need to, you should definitely use the INDEX MATCH formula.

Lower Processing Need

The processing benefit of using INDEX MATCH has been marginalized in recent versions of Excel because the software’s processing capabilities have expanded so significantly.  But just give everyone a brief history lesson I’ll elaborate upon this benefit.  In some of Excel’s older versions, the software had tangible processing limitations that would be noticeable if you built a huge data set.  In some situations, I was required to lookup values for thousands of rows so I could append a new column to a large table.  Once I added all of these formulas, the software would freeze up and take several minutes to calculate the return values.  I eventually had to replace my VLOOKUP formulas with INDEX MATCH to speed up the calculations.
The reason for this difference is actually fairly simple.  VLOOKUP requires more processing power from Excel because it needs to evaluate the entire table array you’ve selected.  With INDEX MATCH, Excel only has to consider the lookup column and the return column.  With fewer absolute cells to consider, Excel can process this formula much faster.
Again, please keep in mind that this benefit is probably no longer noticeable given the improvements made in Excel’s processing power.  However, if for any reason you need to run thousands of lookup formulas within a spreadsheet, make sure to use INDEX MATCH.

Conclusion

The one disadvantage of using INDEX MATCH is that it is clearly harder to learn and more difficult to remember.  Excel does not have the syntax built into the software and the syntax by itself is not intuitive.  However, this hurdle can easily be resolved by reading a simple tutorial on how to use the formula.
Making the switch from VLOOKUP to INDEX MATCH was one of the key steps I took to improve the quality of the Excel models I built.  I now use INDEX MATCH exclusively for all of my vertical lookups.  I do this not just because it’s a better formula, but also because it helps me remember the more complex syntax.  Once you’ve made the switch, and experienced the benefits of using INDEX MATCH, I promise you that you won’t go back to VLOOKUP.