Using Named Ranges in Formulas
Using Named Ranges in Formulas
A named range is nothing more than a cell or range of cells that has been given a friendly, descriptive name. Naming your ranges allows you use easily recognizable names in your formulas instead of cell addresses. For instance, say that you have lineitem sales in cells A1:A25 and you have a percent tax in cell B1. You could calculate a total sale amount with tax using this formula: =SUM(A1:A25)*(1+B1)
Now imagine that you gave your ranges descriptive names, calling cells A1:25
Sale_Items, and calling cell B1 Tax_Percent. You could then calculate the total sale amount with tax by using this formula:
=SUM(Sales_Items)*(1+Tax_Percent) Immediately, you can see how much easier it is to understand what is going on in the formula. The formula is easier not only to read but also to explain to others who aren’t familiar with the workbook.
Another benefit to naming these ranges is that creating new formulas with these named ranges becomes easier because you can simply use the easily remembered descriptive name instead of trying to remember that line-item sales live in cells A1:A25.
