{"id":8302,"date":"2013-02-13T14:51:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T14:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arliemediadesign.com\/?p=8302"},"modified":"2025-04-02T06:16:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T06:16:01","slug":"excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/","title":{"rendered":"Excel Hints & Tips – The OFFSET Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Let us assume the spread-sheet uses the standard accounts layout of figures for each month, so 12 columns of figures in all, for January to December. You want to indicate the current month with a number (1 for January, 2 for February etc) and have this month\u2019s figure automatically displayed separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One approach is to use a very complicated IF statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IF(P1=1,C4,if(P1=2,D4,if(P1=3,E4 \u2026 and so on up to P1=12<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However this is long-winded and complex and therefore invites errors. Our rule of thumb is if you get to three levels of Ifs, there is probably a simpler way to do it. And in this case there is a much simpler way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The OFFSET Function<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
OFFSET is a neat little function which allows you to say, from any cell go 3 to the right and 4 down \u2013 or, better, use cell references. So to extract this month\u2019s accounts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
=OFFSET(B4,0,P$1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
P1 is the number of the month. B4 is the column before the financial data starts, and the 0 indicates you don\u2019t want to move down a row. So it will take the value of C4 when when P1 is 1, D4 when P1 is 2 and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How do I set my spreadsheet to automatically extract this month\u2019s figure from the accounts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"blog-post-type":[35],"class_list":["post-8302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it-tips-tricks","blog-post-type-blog-with-image"],"acf":{"read_or_watch_time":"Read Time: 10 mins"},"yoast_head":"\n
Excel Hints & Tips - The OFFSET Function - Happy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Excel Hints & Tips - The OFFSET Function\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do I set my spreadsheet to automatically extract this month\u2019s figure from the accounts?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Happy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HappyLtd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-13T14:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-02T06:16:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arliemediadesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/excel-offset-1024x576.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darren Andrews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@happyltd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@happyltd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darren Andrews\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darren Andrews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/a930db4a1722e149e17ac2c308776a61\"},\"headline\":\"Excel Hints & Tips – The OFFSET Function\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-13T14:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-02T06:16:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/\"},\"wordCount\":211,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/arliemediadesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/excel-offset-1024x576.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"IT tips and tricks\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/excel-hints-tips-the-offset-function\/\",\"name\":\"Excel Hints & Tips - 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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n