7 ALTERNATIVES TO NESTED IF FUNCTION

5 min readJun 24, 2017--IF function is one of the most used functions in Excel.In my opinion, it is the foundation of all programming and Excel’s formula mastery. However, it is also one of the most misused functions, especially Nested IF.Especially now with Excel 2007 and beyond, you can nest up to 64 IF functions to form complex, slow and hard-to-understand IF THEN ELSE statement.You don’t need to slow or complicate your worksheet anymore, here are the 7 faster alternatives:VLOOKUPCHOOSE & MATCHREPTINDEX & MATCHSUMPRODUCTBOOLEAN LOGICSUMIFVLOOKUPSay you have below price list with mixed currency and you want to convert them to USDThe first step would be to look up the exchange rate per currency. Most users would use below nested IF function=IF(B2=$F$3,$G$3,IF(B2=$F$4,$G$4,IF(B2=$F$5,$G$5,IF(B2=$F$6,$G$6,IF(B2=$F$7,$G$7,IF(B2=$F$8,$G$8))))))This is not only hard to understand but will definitely slow down your worksheet.Below VLOOKUP Function is the 1st Alternative.=VLOOKUP(B2,$F$2:$G$8,2,FALSE)How it worksVLOOKUP uses the exact match criteria to retrieve the exchange rates in Column 2 of the exchange rate table ($F$2:$G$8).Note: You MUST specify the match criteria for VLOOKUP to exactly retrieve correct rates. IF the criteria is omitted, VLOOKUP, by default, does an approximate search giving wrong results.CHOOSE & MATCH FUNCTIONS=CHOOSE(MATCH(B2,$F$3:$F$8,0),$G$3,$G$4,$G$5,$G$6,$G$7,$G$8)How it worksMATCH(B2,$F$3:$F$8,0)=6MATCH function searches for the currency in the exchange rate table and returns its relative position.CHOOSE function returns the exchange rate based on its position in the list.

MATCH function above provides this position.=CHOOSE(6,$G$3,$G$4,$G$5,$G$6,$G$7,$G$8) = 1.25REPT FUNCTION=REPT($G$3,B2=$F$3)&REPT($G$4,B2=$F$4)&REPT($G$5,B2=$F$5)&REPT($G$6,B2=$F$6)&REPT($G$7,B2=$F$7)&REPT($G$8,B2=$F$8)How It WorksREPT Function returns a specific text string a specified number of times. If the specified number is zero, REPT returns an empty string.Excel recognizes internally the value of TRUE as number 1 and value of FALSE as 0. This is a fact that REPT utilizes to determine the number of times to repeat.Also, note that in our function above ONLY 1 test will evaluate TRUE, others return FALSE.=REPT($G$3,FALSE)&REPT($G$4,FALSE)&REPT($G$5,FALSE)&REPT($G$6,FALSE)&REPT($G$7,FALSE)&REPT($G$8,TRUE)Where the test evaluates to FALSE, REPT functions returns an empty string (” “)=""&""&""&""&""&"1.25435"INDEX & MATCH{=INDEX($G$3:$G$8,MATCH(TRUE,($F$3:$F$8=B2),0))}How it worksMATCH function checks if the currency exists in the range ($F$3:$F$8=B2). If TRUE, it returns the relative position of the currency.INDEX function returns the exchange rate in the range ($G$3:$G$8) given its position. MATCH provides this relative position.NB: This is an array formula, Therefore, Ctrl+Shift+EnterIf want to avoid array formula, use a combination of INDEX, MATCH, INDEX shown below=INDEX($G$3:$G$8,MATCH(TRUE,INDEX($F$3:$F$8=B2,0),0))Based on the comment below by Keith, I have realized the above INDEX & MATCH

function is an overkill and simple INDEX & MATCH below works perfectly and much faster than above combinations.=INDEX($G$3:$G$8,MATCH(B2,$F$3:$F$8,0))SUMPRODUCT=SUMPRODUCT(--(B2=$F$3:$F$8),$G$3:$G$8)How it worksIn my opinion, this is the shortest and efficient formula.►–(B2=$F$3:$F$8) returns an array of 1/0. {0;0;0;0;0;1}1 representing the relative position of the currency that meets the criteria in the exchange rate table►$G$3:$G$8 returns an array of exchange rates {0.00982118;0.071507;0.740269;1;1.06172;1.25435}SUMPRODUCT gets the sum of the product of the two arrays=SUMPRODUCT({0;0;0;0;0;1},{0.00982118;0.071507;0.740269;1;1.06172;1.25435})=1.25435NB: This method ONLY works with numeric values.BOOLEAN LOGIC=(B2=$F$4)*$G$4+(B2=$F$3)*$G$3+(B2=$F$5)*$G$5+(B2=$F$6)*$G$6+(B2=$F$7)*$G$7+(B2=$F$8)*$G$8How it worksThe method exploits the fact that Excel recognizes internally the value of TRUE as number 1 and value of FALSE as 0.Firstly, Compare the currency in the price list table with the currency in the exchange rate.

This results to TRUE/FALSE which Excel recognizes as 1/0.=(0)*$G$4+(0)*$G$3+(0)*$G$5+(0)*$G$6+(0)*$G$7+(1)*$G$8Since only 1 test will evaluate to TRUE, if you multiply them with corresponding rates and add them up, the result will be zeros plus the correct rate=0+0+0+0+0+1.25435NB: This method also ONLY works with numeric values.SUMIFHow it worksThis is another simple alternative but works ONLY with numeric values.SUMIF function returns a sum of all numbers in a range of cells that meet a certain criterion.syntax =SUMIF(Range, Criterion, [sum_range])Range–Currencies to be evaluated using our criterionCriterion–the currency on our price list that determines the exchange rate to be returnedSum_range–the exchange ratesSince only one cell in our range will meet our criterion, SUMIF returns the coinciding rate.CONCLUSIONThere you have it–7 ways to eliminate the slow calculating and complex nested IF.DOWNLOAD WORKSHEETRESOURCESThis Article was inspired the Excel Hero epic article I Heart IF.Check it out and ensure you read all 100+ commentsVisit http://crispexcel.com/ for more creative excel-ling!