Excel CEILING Function
Summary
The Excel CEILING function returns a given number rounded up to a specified multiple. For example, =CEILING(A1,5) could be used to round a price in A1 to the nearest 5 dollars. CEILING always rounds up.
Purpose
Round a number up to nearest multiple
Return value
A rounded number.
Syntax
=CEILING (number, multiple)
Arguments
- number - The number that should be rounded.
- multiple - The multiple to use when rounding.
Usage notes
The Excel CEILING function rounds a number up to a given multiple. For example, the following could be used to round a price in A1 to the nearest 5 dollars.
=CEILING(A1,5)
CEILING can be a can be a useful function to set pricing after currency conversion, discounts, etc. For example, the formula below can round a value in A1 to the nearest 1 dollar, then subtract 1 cent, to get a price like $2.99, $5.99, $49.99, etc.
=CEILING(A1,1) - 0.01
If you need more control over how CEILING rounds negative numbers, see the CEILING.MATH function.
CEILING vs CEILING.MATH
The CEILING.MATH function differs from the CEILING function in these ways:
- CEILING.MATH provides a default multiple of 1 for positive numbers and -1 for negative numbers
- CEILING.MATH provides explicit control for rounding negative numbers (toward zero, away from zero)
- CEILING.MATH appears to use the absolute value of the significance argument. Changing the sign of significance has no effect on the result.
Notes
- CEILING works like the MROUND function, but CEILING always rounds up.
- If number is an exact multiple of significance, no rounding occurs.
- If number and significance are both negative, the value is rounded down, away from zero.
- If number is negative, and significance is positive, the value is rounded up towards zero.
CEILING formula examples
Next biweekly payday from dateTo get the next payday - assuming a biweekly schedule, with paydays on Friday - you can use a formula based on the CEILING function.
In the example shown, the formula in C6 is:
=CEILING(...
To round up to the next bundle size, you can use the CEILING function which automatically rounds up away from zero.
In the example shown, we need a certain number of items, and the items come in specific bundle sizes....
To highlight rows in groups of "n" (i.e. shade every 3 rows, every 5 rows, etc.) you can apply conditional formatting with a formula based on the ROW, CEILING and ISEVEN functions.
In the example shown, the formula...
If you need to round a number to the nearest multiple of 5, you can use the MROUND function and supply 5 for number of digits.
How this formula works
In the example, cell C6 contains this formula:
=MROUND(B6,5)
The...
To randomly assign people to groups or teams of a specific size, you can use a helper column with a value generated by the RAND function, together with a formula based on the RANK and ROUNDUP functions. In the example...
To creating a running count of groups of a variable size, you can use the COUNTA and CEILING function. In the example shown, C5 contains this formula:
=CEILING(COUNTA($B$5:B5)/size,1)
where "size" is the named range...
If you need to round a number up to the next half, you can use the CEILING function, which always rounds up based on a supplied multiple.
Note that MROUND also rounds based on a supplied multiple, but it always rounds...
If you need to round a number up to the nearest specified multiple (i.e. round a number up to the nearest dollar, up to the nearest $.25, up to the nearest multiple of 5, etc.) you can use the CEILING function.
In the...
To round a time to the nearest 15 minute interval, you can use the MROUND function, which rounds based on a supplied multiple. In the example shown, the formula in C6 is:
=MROUND(B6,"0:15")
How this formula...
Related videos
In this video, we look at a step by step approach to randomly assign people to groups with teams using formulas. Along the way, we use three functions (RAND, RANK, and CEILING), helper columns, and nesting. We verify results with the COUNTIF function.
In this video, we'll look at how to use conditional formatting to shade alternating groups of rows. For example, you can use this approach to shade groups of 3 rows, groups of 4 rows, and so on. This can be a nice way to make certain tables easier to read.
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