SUMIF vs. SUMIFS in Excel

SUMIF and SUMIFS are both functions in Microsoft Excel used to sum values based on specific criteria. However, they have some differences in their usage and application.

SUMIF

SUMIF function is used when you want to sum values in a range based on a single criterion. The syntax for the SUMIF function is:

SUMIF(range, criteria, [sum_range])

• range: The range of cells that you want to apply the criteria against.
• criteria: The condition that must be met for a cell to be included in the sum.
• [sum_range]: Optional. The actual cells to sum. If this parameter is not provided, the cells in the range will be summed.

Example of SUMIF

Let's say you have a spreadsheet with sales data, and you want to find the total sales for a specific product, "Product A".

You can use the SUMIF function to sum the sales for "Product A" as follows:

=SUMIF(A2:A5, "Product A", B2:B5)

The result will be 40 (10 + 30).

SUMIFS

SUMIFS function is used when you want to sum values in a range based on multiple criteria. The syntax for the SUMIFS function is:

SUMIFS(sum_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria2], ...)

• sum_range: The range of cells to be summed.
• criteria_range1: The range of cells to be evaluated for the first criteria.
• criteria1: The first condition that must be met for a cell to be included in the sum.
• criteria_range2, criteria2, ...: Optional. Additional ranges and criteria to be evaluated.

Example of SUMIFS

Using the same sales data, let's say you now want to find the total sales for "Product A" in "Region 1".

You can use the SUMIFS function to sum the sales for "Product A" in "Region 1" as follows:

=SUMIFS(C2:C5, A2:A5, "Product A", B2:B5, "Region 1")

The result will be 10.

In summary, use SUMIF when you have only one criterion to apply, and use SUMIFS when you have multiple criteria to apply.