ROUNDUP Function

The ROUNDUP function rounds numbers up. Unlike standard rounding, where only numbers less than 5 are rounded down, ROUNDUP rounds all numbers up. For example:

=ROUNDUP(3.001,0) // returns 4

ROUNDUP takes two arguments, number and num_digits. Number is the number to be rounded, and num_digits is the place at which the number should be rounded. When num_digits is greater than zero, the ROUNDUP function rounds on the right side of the decimal point. When num_digits is less or equal to zero, the ROUNDUP function rounds on the left side of the decimal point. Use zero (0) for num_digits to round to the nearest integer. The table below summarizes this behavior:

How ROUNDUP works

The ROUNDUP function works like the ROUND function except that it always rounds up. The steps look like this:

1. Determine the precision. The precision is determined by the num_digits argument, which sets the number of decimal places to be returned. For example, =ROUNDUP(A1,1) will round a number in A1 up to one decimal place, and =ROUNDUP(A1,0) will round up to the nearest whole number.

2. Determine the rounding digit. This is the number in the place you are rounding to. For example, when rounding to the nearest whole number, the last number to keep is in the 1s position.

3. If any non-zero numbers follow the rounding digit, increment the rounding digit by 1. For example, to round the number 2.123 to up the nearest tenth (i.e. 1 decimal place):

• The rounding digit is 1 (the first digit after the decimal).
• The following numbers are non-zero.
• The 2 is incremented by 1 and the result is 3.

We can get the same result with the ROUNDDOWN function like this:

=ROUNDUP(2.123,0) // returns 3
=ROUNDUP(2.123,1) // returns 2.2
=ROUNDUP(2.123,2) // returns 2.13
=ROUNDUP(2.123,3) // returns 2.123

Round to right of the decimal

To round up values to the right of the decimal point, use a positive number for digits: 

=ROUNDUP(A1,1) // Round up to nearest tenth (0.1)
=ROUNDUP(A1,2) // Round up to nearest hundredth (0.01)
=ROUNDUP(A1,3) // Round up to nearest thousandth (0.001)
=ROUNDUP(A1,4) // Round up to nearest ten-thousandth (0.0001)

The formulas above will round a number in cell A1 up to the nearest 1 decimal place, the nearest 2 decimal places, the nearest 3 decimal places, and the nearest 4 decimal places.

Round to left of the decimal

To round up values to the left of the decimal point, use zero or a negative number for digits:  

=ROUNDUP(A1,0) // Round up to nearest whole number
=ROUNDUP(A1,-1) // Round up to nearest 10
=ROUNDUP(A1,-2) // Round up to nearest 100
=ROUNDUP(A1,-3) // Round up to nearest 1000
=ROUNDUP(A1,-4) // Round up to nearest 10000

ROUNDUP with negative numbers

Excel's ROUNDUP function always rounds numbers up away from zero, to a specified number of digits. You can see this behavior in the examples below:

=ROUNDUP(-2.123,0) // returns -3
=ROUNDUP(-2.123,1) // returns -2.2
=ROUNDUP(-2.123,2) // returns -2.13
=ROUNDUP(-2.123,3) // returns -2.123

This might seem counterintuitive because the number becomes "larger" as an absolute value, but ROUNDUP consistently moves rounded numbers away from zero.

Nesting calculations inside ROUNDUP

Other operations and functions can be nested inside the ROUNDUP function. For example, to round the result of A1 divided by B1, you can use a formula like this:

=ROUNDUP(A1/B1,0) // round up result to nearest integer

Other rounding functions

Excel provides several rounding functions, each with a different behavior:

• To round with standard rules, use the ROUND function.
• To round to the nearest multiple, use the MROUND function.
• To round down to the nearest specified place, use the ROUNDDOWN function.
• To round down to the nearest specified multiple, use the FLOOR function.
• To round up to the nearest specified place, use the ROUNDUP function.
• To round up to the nearest specified multiple, use the CEILING function.
• To round down and return an integer only, use the INT function.
• To truncate decimal places, use the TRUNC function.

Notes

• The ROUNDUP function rounds a number down to a given place by treating the remaining numbers as zero.
• If the number is already rounded down to the given number of places, no rounding occurs.
• If number is not numeric, ROUNDUP returns a #VALUE! error.
• If num_digits is not numeric, ROUNDUP returns a #VALUE! error.
• ROUNDUP always rounds numbers away from zero.