Microsoft Excel is a handy tool for analytics experts. One of the most regular actions in arithmetics is the rounding of numbers. Excel is embedded with several functions that you can use to round numbers.
Excel contains both the ROUNDUP and the ROUNDDOWN functions. Financial analysts harness the functions to round up numbers to a whole number or specific decimal place. This formula saves a whole lot of time. They are very beneficial in financial modeling, as they can boost your accuracy.
In this tutorial, we will focus on how to use excel to round up numbers using the Excel =ROUNDUP() function.
I assume that you already know how to round up numbers i.e, if the value of the number in front of the integer is less than 5, we round down. Also, if the value of the number in front of the integer is greater than 5 we round up.
However, the ROUNDUP function in excel automates and rounds up every number, notwithstanding the value of the number in front.
When you use the ROUNDUP function, a value that should be rounded down will be rounded up automatically.
Normally, '23' when rounded to the nearest tens should be "20". But when you apply the ROUNDUP function, your result will be "30."
When rounding in excel, you must obey the rules of the syntax. When using the Excel roundup formula, you will have to include the number you want to round up and then the number of units you want to round up. This can be the nearest whole number, decimal places, etc.
Below is the syntax for the ROUNDUP function:
=ROUNDUP(number, num_digits)'
The number is the specific number that you want to round up.
Num_digits: is the number of digits or decimal places you wish to round up to. The Argument can contain positive as well as negative numbers.
Positive numbers are used when rounding numbers to the right i.e, when rounding to the nearest decimal place.
Zero is used when rounding to the nearest whole number.
Negative numbers are used when rounding to the left i.e, when rounding up to the nearest tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.
Now, take a look at how to use the ROUNDUP function for values in row A2 of a cell:
=ROUNDUP(A2,1) // Round up to 1 place of decimal
=ROUNDUP(A2,2) // Round up to 2 places of decimal
=ROUNDUP(A2,3) // Round up to 3 places of decimal
=ROUNDUP(A2,4) // Round up to 4 places of decimal
=ROUNDUP(A2,0) // Round up to nearest whole number
=ROUNDUP(A2,-1) // Round up to nearest ten
=ROUNDUP(A2,-2) // Round up to nearest hundred
=ROUNDUP(A2,-3) // Round up to nearest thousand
=ROUNDUP(A2,-4) // Round up to nearest ten thousand
See the image below for the results that you'll have when you apply the ROUNDUP function for one specific value but different Num_digits.
Nesting of ROUNDUP function
You can nest your Roundup function so that you roundup the results of an arithmetic operation. For example, you can roundup the result A2 divided by B4 by using the formula below:
=ROUNDUP(A2/B4,0) // The result of this operation will be rounded up to the nearest whole number.