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How to Roundup a Formula Result in Excel – Best Advice

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How to Roundup a Formula Result in Excel

In this post we discuss how to roundup a formula result in excel. In short, the answer to How to roundup a formula result in excel is an easy one. Just select type in ROUNDUP and then select cell or cells which you want to round up. But read on for details.

Rounding a number increases or decreases the number to its nearest integer in multiples of ones, tens, etc. But when you round a number up, it essentially means to round off upwards and not downwards or to the nearest side.

You can do it by using a ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN functions of MS-Excel, where ROUNDUP function does exactly what we are looking for – rounding up number upwards to nearest integer. For example, from 5.71 up to just 6.

It may sound a little confusing to beginners what rounding off means. Many people cannot explain the difference between the ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN functions of MS-Excel.

Moreover, the technical syntax makes it appear more complicated. We will make your job easier by clearing your doubts. The objective of this guide is to give the best advice about the ROUNDUP function.

We will explain the logic behind it and discuss the syntax with various examples to learn the basic concepts. How to roundup a formula result in excel  – let’s dive in.

What is the ROUNDUP function?

It is a built-in Mathematical function of Microsoft Excel. As a worksheet function, you can nest any formula into to round it up. It can round up the number to a specified number of digits, and it always rounds away from zero. So, unlike ROUND or ROUNDDOWN, all integers from 1 to 9 round up to 10.

What is the syntax of the ROUNDUP function?

The syntax is a list of arguments that we can use in a function to get the desired result. The syntax of ROUNDUP used in Excel is as follows:

ROUNDUP(number,num_digits)

Number = Any real number or a formula that returns a Real number.

Num_digits = No. of digits to which you need to round the number upwards.

Note: Both the arguments are mandatory and not optional, which means the Function won’t work if any Argument is missing.

Step by Step Procedure to use the ROUNDUP function

Let us first understand how this Function works with some simple examples.

Simple Examples How to Roundup a Formula in Excel

How to roundup a formula in excel

  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.678,3) = 145.678 – Here, no rounding is required as num_digit argument is 3, and the decimals are also 3).
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.678,2) = 145.68 – argument rounds up the second decimal from 7 to 8, i.e., upwards, and 678 becomes 680.
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.678,1) = 145.7, 145.70, or 145.700 – argument rounds up the first decimal from 6 to 7, and 678 becomes 700.

Let us take a different number

  • ·   ROUNDUP(7.456,3) = 7.456
  • ·   ROUNDUP(7.456,2) = 7.46
  • ·   ROUNDUP(7.456,1) = 7.5

Note: If you try these examples in excel, use the ‘=’ sign before entering this formula. E.g., Enter ‘ROUNDUP(7.45,0)’ as ‘=ROUNDUP(7.45,0)’

Three scenarios of ROUNDUP in Excel

It uses the second argument to round up the number given in the first argument. The function argument can also be a negative number. There are three possibilities. Either we round to the left or the right or have another formula nested in it.

1. Round to the right side in Excel

The simple examples given above are examples of round to the right. Let us practice with some different or more complex examples

  • ·   ROUNDUP(3.98,3) = 3.98 – Any argument of 2 or more will always give the same result.
  • ·   ROUNDUP(24.1,2) = 24.1 – same as above
  • ·   ROUNDUP(2.5,1) = 2.6 – one decimal rounded
  • ·   ROUNDUP(3.1454675,5) = 3.14547 – 5 decimal rounded
  • ·   ROUNDUP(786,1) = 786 – no decimals are there. So any argument of 1 or more will not have any effect
  • ·   ROUNDUP(5,1) = 5 – same
  • ·   ROUNDUP(45,1) = 45 – same
  • ·   ROUNDUP(504,1) = 504 – same
  • ·   ROUNDUP(0.9,2) = 0.9 – same result for 1,2 or a higher number

2. Round to the left side in Excel

It rounds up zero digits to the left of the decimal.

  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.67,0) = 146 – 0 round up to the nearest integer if there is a decimal on the right side.
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.6,0) = 146 – same
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.6789,0) = 146
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.0000000,0) = 145 – It does not increase to 146 as there are no decimals
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145,0) = 145 – same

Now let us move further left and consider examples with minus arguments like -1, -2, etc. Please note that -1 rounds to the nearest 10, -2 rounds to the nearest 100, and so on.

  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.67,-1) = 150 – ignore the decimals on the right. Minus 1 implies
  • ·   ROUNDUP(14.22,-1) = 20
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.67,-2) = 200
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.67,-3) = 1000
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145.67,-4) = 10000
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145,-1) = 150
  • ·    ROUNDUP(145,-2) = 200
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145,-3) = 1000
  • ·   ROUNDUP(145,-4) = 10000
  • ·   ROUNDUP(0.67,-1) = 10
  • ·   ROUNDUP(1297,-1) = 1300
  • ·   ROUNDUP(75,-1) = 80
  • ·   ROUNDUP(999,-1) = 1000
  • ·   ROUNDUP(901,-1) = 910 – round to nearest 10

3. Round up in Nesting

We can also nest other Operations or Functions inside this Function. For instance, if you want to multiply A1 with B1, the Function works as follows.

Let us assume A is 2.44, and B1 is 2, and the multiplication is 4.88, and the roundup should be as follows.

  • ·   ROUNDUP(A1*B1,1) = 4.9
  • ·   ROUNDUP(A2/B2,1) = 1.3 – because 1.22 rounds up
  • ·   ROUNDUP(A3+B3,1) = 4.5 – because 4.44 rounds up
  • ·   ROUNDUP(A4-B4,1) = 0.5 – because 0.44 rounds up



In this way, we can nest any formula. There is only one condition that the Formula result should be a real number so that excel can round it up.

You can reference any formula result using a cell reference like A1, B1, etc. You can also put the formula result in a column and then reference only the specific cell. E.g., if we store the results of the above formulas in Column C, it will give the same results by reference as follows:

  • ·   ROUNDUP(C1,1) = 4.9
  • ·   ROUNDUP(C2,1) = 1.3
  • ·   ROUNDUP(C3,1) = 4.5
  • ·   ROUNDUP(C4,1) = 0.5

The difference between ROUNDUP and ROUND/ ROUNDDOWN in Excel

Please understand that ROUNDUP differs from ROUND because ROUND makes the number change towards the nearest ones or tens. Similarly, ROUNDDOWN rounds only on the downward side, near to zero.

ROUNDUP: 7.7 or 7.3 rounds up to 8

ROUNDDOWN: 7.7 or 7.3 Rounds down to 7

ROUND: 7.7 rounds to 8 whereas 7.3 rounds to 7

Some Real-Life Applications of rounding up in Excel

There are many situations when we may be interested in rounding off a number. E.g., If I scored 88.79% in my English test, I would be tempted to say it by simplifying that I got 89% marks in English, or even 90%, and that depends upon how much rounding up I want to convey. In this example, I have rounded up by 0 decimals or -1 decimals.

You may face a similar situation where you want to see a neat screen instead of too many decimals, which may appear cluttered. It may seem a little challenging to understand.

English – 79.56%

Math – 89.54%

Science – 98.45%

These numbers will become simpler if rounded UP by 0 decimals.

English – 80%

Math – 90%

Science – 99%

It is easier to read the second set of data.

Conclusion

Excel’s ROUNDUP function rounds up a number. You can also round up a formula result using this Function by nesting the formula inside it. ROUNDUP does the same thing to a Formula what it would generally to any number.