I recently did a webinar with my team, and we covered some popular Excel formulas. One of the formulas I use often is called a “VLOOKUP.”
The VLOOKUP formula can be scary at first, but once you understand the concept, you will use it all the time! This formula allows you to cross-reference data between different tabs or workbooks.
Let’s say you have two tabs in your spreadsheet. One is named ‘Customer List” and is a list of customers with their Customer ID (column A), First Name (Column B), Last Name (Column c), Address (Column D), and Account Owner (column E). You would also like a column that shows the customer’s start date, but this information is in a different tab.
You have another tab named “Start Date” that has the “Customer ID” in column A and “Start Date” in column B.
As long as the customer ID is unique, we can use this field to cross-reference our data. Let’s put this in action:
In the first blank column of your sheet, enter:
=VLOOKUP(A2, Start Date!A:B, 2, false)
Here is the VLOOKUP formula spelled out:
=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_number,[range_lookup])
You can key this information in or use your mouse to select the data from each field.
- “A2” is where the Customer ID is located and that is the data we are using to look up our additional information.
- “Start Date!A:B” is referencing the first two columns of data from the Start Date tab in your workbook.
- “2” represents the second column which houses the data we want to return.
- “False” indicates that if we do not find a match, display “N/A” in the field. Otherwise, your start date for each customer will display in your new column.
This sounds confusing and hard at first, but after a little bit of practice, you will be a pro!
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Director of Education & Training
