Real sheet formulas that can help business owners

Google sheets is a great spreadsheet platform that offers a great set of features and convenient sharing tools at no cost for small businesses and individuals. Due to this, more and more people are starting to use Google Sheets for their businesses. 

Google Sheets is a part of Google’s productivity suite called Google Workspace. It offers businesses a myriad of features that can help them evaluate, organize and track essential data.

You might be wondering exactly how Google Sheets can help your business. We’ve assembled a collection of spreadsheet formulas to help business owners grow and automate their businesses. Check them out below.

Dividing data into numerous cells

Formula: SPLIT(Text, Delimiter)

When managing your spreadsheets, you often need to split the data from one cell into multiple cells. You can easily do this by using the SPLIT formula.

The text here is equal to the text that must be divided using the given parameters. The delimiters are the characters being used to divide the text.

Assume that your spreadsheet has first and last names in the same cell. You can use this formula to place the first and last names in their appropriate columns. The Delimiter can be any divider in the column or row between your data like a comma or a space, SPLIT can even delimit by letters, like in the example below.

Counting cells that meet certain criteria

Formula: COUNTIF(range, criteria)

You’re doing it wrong if you’re manually counting the cells in your spreadsheet. Instead, use this straightforward formula to help you count the number of cells that meet your specific criteria. This is great for business owners who want to track their budget or engagement on social media posts.

The range defines the data of the cells you want to get the data of, and the criteria describes your specific requirement.

Taking a value and reformatting It

Formula: TEXT(number, format)

This handy formula allows you to take a value and reformat it with just a few simple steps. Some things you can do using this formula include changing numbers to currencies and adding decimal places to numbers.

This formula makes life much easier if you’re importing large data sets with incorrect formatting.

In the syntax, the number is the value you wish to format, and the format describes the pattern you wish for your values to follow. Here are a few examples of this:

TEXT(1.23,”$0.00″)

TEXT(A2,”#.###”)

TEXT(DATE(1969,7,20),”yyyy-MM”)

Replacing existing text

Formula: SUBSTITUTE(text-to-search, search-for, replace-with, [occurrence-number])

Sometimes you may need to replace one specific keyword with another. Doing this in bulk can be time-consuming, annoying, and tedious. Rather than going through the whole spreadsheet, you can just use this formula to replace all the text at once.

Keep in mind that this is a case-sensitive formula. You also need to utilize a comma to separate all the attributes to work correctly. For example, if you need to replace “Chair” but write “chair,” the formula will search for the latter only.

Finding sum of numbers in different cells

Formula: SUMIF(range, criterion, [sum-range])

This can be a good formula if you need to calculate the total amount in different cells with a given condition in a range. For example, you could use this formula to sum up the prices in a selected category. Doing so comes in handy for a few scenarios, including preparing a budget.

Assume you have items in different categories like chocolates, crisps, and soft drinks. If you want to check how much expenditure you have on crisps, you can utilize the formula like this:

SUMIF(C1:C10, “crisps”, D1:D10)

For more complex IF calculations, you should learn how to use SUMIFS in Google Sheets too.

Import cells from another spreadsheet

Formula: IMPORTRANGE(spreadsheet-URL, range-string)

This formula can be beneficial if you’re someone who often has to work with several spreadsheets at once. You can use it to import cells from another spreadsheet rather than opening two sheets side by side and copying data from them.

The formula can seem complex, but it’s relatively straightforward. All you require is the URL of the spreadsheet and the range of cells you need to import into your sheet. Just remember, you need to enclose both the URL and the ranges in quotes.

The bottom line

Google Sheets can be a great tool to have in your arsenal if you’re a business owner. It allows you to streamline your business by determining sales, monitoring employee schedules, and much more. Check out some of our other productivity articles to level up your business.