Beyond Excel's VLOOKUP Function

Author: David H. Ringstrom

Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, explains helpful ways you can improve the integrity of your spreadsheets using Excel’s lookup functions. While many users rely on VLOOKUP to return data from other locations in a worksheet, that’s not always the most efficient approach. In this comprehensive course, David reveals alternatives to VLOOKUP, including the HLOOKUP, INDEX and MATCH, SUMIF, SUMIFS, SUMPRODUCT, IFNA, MAXIFS, and OFFSET functions.

David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) version of Excel. David draws your attention to any differences in the older versions of Excel (2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier) during the course as well as in his detailed handouts. David also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples he uses during the course.

Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that provides new feature updates as often as monthly. Conversely, the perpetual licensed versions of Excel have feature sets that don't change. Perpetual licensed versions have year numbers, such as Excel 2019, Excel 2016, and so on.

Publication Date: March 2023

Designed For
Practitioners who can benefit by using a variety of lookup functions to work more efficiently in Excel.

Topics Covered

• Contrasting the INDEX and MATCH combination to VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP
• Demonstrating how XLOOKUP can look up and down columns or across rows
• Diagnosing #N/A errors that arise when numbers are stored as text or when text contains extraneous spaces
• Discovering how to use wildcards and multiple criteria within lookup formulas
• Discovering the capabilities of the SUMPRODUCT function for calculating payroll and other amounts
• Displaying alternate results with XLOOKUP by populating the If Not_Found argument instead of using IFERROR or IFNA
• Displaying subsets of data dynamically by way of the new FILTER worksheet function
• Exploring the XLOOKUP worksheet function in Excel 2021 and Microsoft 365
• Filtering based upon two or more conditions with the FILTER function in Excel 2021 and Microsoft 365
• Identifying situations where VLOOKUP may return #N/A instead of a value
• Identifying situations where VLOOKUP may return #N/A instead of a value

Learning Objectives

• Recognize and apply a variety of lookup functions in order to work more efficiently in Excel
• Recognize why the INDEX and MATCH combination is often superior to VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP
• Recognize and apply the SUMIF and SUMIFS functions

Level
Intermediate

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Computer Software & Applications (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
Experience with Lookup Functions Recommended.

Advance Preparation
None