Value fields and aggregation in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This table shows sales numbers for two products, Apples and Bananas, recorded twice each.

Cell	Value
A1	Product
B1	Sales
A2	Apples
B2	10
A3	Bananas
B3	15
A4	Apples
B4	20
A5	Bananas
B5	5

Formula Trace

=SUMIF(A2:A5, "Apples", B2:B5)

Step 1: Check each cell in A2:A5 if it equals "Apples"

Step 2: Select corresponding values from B2:B5 where condition is TRUE

Step 3: Sum the selected values: 10 + 20

Cell Reference Map

    A       B
1 Product  Sales
2 Apples   10  <-- matches condition
3 Bananas  15
4 Apples   20  <-- matches condition
5 Bananas  5

The formula checks cells A2 to A5 for "Apples" and sums corresponding B2 to B5 values.

Result

    A       B       C
1 Product  Sales   Total Apples
2 Apples   10      30
3 Bananas  15
4 Apples   20
5 Bananas  5

The formula result 30 is shown as total sales for Apples in cell C2.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the formula =SUMIF(A2:A5, "Apples", B2:B5) do?

A Counts how many times Apples appear

B Adds all sales values regardless of product

C Adds sales values where product is Apples

D Finds the highest sales value for Apples

Key Result

SUMIF(range_to_check, condition, range_to_sum) sums values in range_to_sum where corresponding cells in range_to_check meet the condition.