Using Spreadsheet Formulas: 5 Jobs That Require This Skill

Spreadsheet formulas allow you to manipulate data in your spreadsheet automatically, instructing the program to add, subtract, or otherwise engage with your spreadsheet cells. Many different industries—like business, education, health care, and finance, among others—use spreadsheets in an array of ways. These include: organizing data, analyzing financial statements or projections, managing projects, tracking inventory, and more. 

Explore types of spreadsheet formulas and how you can use them in career paths like financial analyst, accountant, project manager, and more. 

What are spreadsheet formulas?

A spreadsheet formula is a method of manipulating data within cells of a spreadsheet like Excel or Sheets. These mathematical expressions instruct the program about how you’d like to interact with the data. Unlike a spreadsheet function, a user writes a formula to define what the cell should do. A function, while also providing instructions to the spreadsheet, is predefined by the program for easy use. 

You can use spreadsheet formulas to complete basic math functions like adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. You can also use spreadsheets for more complicated applications, such as tracking financial data, managing a database of information, or performing other kinds of data analysis. 

Common spreadsheet formulas

You can choose from hundreds of predetermined functions or write custom formulas to add a wide range of functionality to your spreadsheets. A few common spreadsheet formulas include: 

• SUM: Adds numbers in a range or selection of cells.

• SUMIF: Adds numbers in a range or selection of cells if they meet a condition.

• DATE: Returns a serial number that represents a date. Other functions with similar use include TODAY, which returns today’s date. 

• LOOKUP: Allows you to find values within a row or column that match the value you specify. 

• SORT: Sorts cells that have numerical values within a column from the lowest to the highest. 

• DGET: Allows you to return a value from a database. 

• CHOOSE: Returns a random value from an array you define. 

• DAYS: Calculates the number of days between two provided dates. 

Types of spreadsheet formulas

Microsoft Excel has over 340 available functions [1], and Google Sheets also offers hundreds of built-in functions [2]. Both programs allow you to create custom spreadsheet formulas as needed. You can explore the different types of spreadsheet formulas available by considering what they do or how they instruct the program to manipulate your data. 

Consider the types of spreadsheet functions already available in programs like Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel: 

• Math and trigonometry: You can use spreadsheets to add, subtract, multiply, divide, or complete more complicated calculations like trigonometry.

• Lookup and reference: You can write a spreadsheet formula to look for instances of a number, calculate the number of rows or columns in an array, or point to a cell where you can find information. 

• Date and time: Both Sheets and Excel include date and time functions to manipulate how this information displays in the cell or to perform analysis using time as a metric. 

• Logical: You can use logical spreadsheet formulas to work with conditional statements. These include determining whether a statement is true or returning a value only if other conditions are met. 

• Statistical: You can write spreadsheet formulas to work with statistical calculations, such as calculating averages or ratios. 

• Text: You can also write formulas that manipulate text, like returning an array of text values, combining text from different cells, or converting numbers into text characters based on a code you provide. 

• Financial: You can use financial formulas to make more complicated mathematical equations used in financial analysis. These include calculating interest, appreciation or depreciation, discount rates, or currency conversion. 

5 jobs that require proficiency in using spreadsheet formulas

Spreadsheets are versatile solutions to manage and work with data in a variety of industries. If you want to consider a career that requires proficiency in spreadsheet formulas, explore the five jobs below to see if you can find a career that fits you. 

Financial analyst

Average annual salary in the US (Glassdoor): $79,487 [3]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2032): 9 percent [4]

As a financial analyst, you will help companies and clients make smart decisions about investments. This can either be on the buy side—helping clients purchase investments—or the sell side—helping clients determine who to sell investments to. In this role, you will use spreadsheet formulas for financial forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis to support strategic investment decisions.

Accountant

Average annual salary in the US (Glassdoor): $74,277 [5]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 6 percent [6]

As an accountant, you will prepare financial records, analyze risks or rewards associated with certain business decisions or investments, and give advice about how companies or individuals can meet their financial goals. In this role, you will use spreadsheet formulas for preparing financial statements, tax calculations, and conducting audits to ensure accuracy and compliance.

Data analyst

Average annual salary in the US (Glassdoor): $84,240 [7]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 36 percent [8]

As a data analyst, you will use data to help companies and organizations solve problems, including gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data. You will also share your findings with other stakeholders. In this role, you will use spreadsheet formulas to clean, sort, and analyze large datasets, generating actionable insights through data manipulation and visualization.

Project manager

Average annual salary in the US (Glassdoor): $89,324 [9]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 7 percent [10]

As a project manager, you will be responsible for planning projects to ensure they stay within the scope, budget, and resource constraints set by the client or company. In this role, you will use spreadsheet formulas for project scheduling, resource allocation, budget tracking, and risk assessment to ensure projects finish on time and within budget.

Operations manager

Average annual salary in the US (Glassdoor): $78,046 [11]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 6 percent [12]

As an operations manager, you will be responsible for overseeing and managing the day-to-day operations of the company, including creating schedules, delegating work, planning resources, or creating new policies. In this role, you will use spreadsheet formulas for operational analysis, efficiency optimization, cost control, and performance reporting to improve organizational effectiveness.

Getting started with spreadsheet formulas on Coursera

Spreadsheet formulas are a customizable way to add functionality to your spreadsheets. Professionals—like financial analysts, accountants, data analysts, project managers, and operations managers—use them to organize and analyze data. If you’d like to learn more about spreadsheet formulas, consider gaining hands-on experience with a Guided Project on Coursera. Spreadsheets for Beginners using Google Sheets on the Coursera Project Network offers a step-by-step guide to working with Sheets. You can also consider an online course, such as Excel Basics for Data Analysis offered by IBM or the Google Sheets course offered by Google Cloud.