Rounding up numbers is a common task in Excel. The ROUNDUP function allows you to easily round values up to the nearest integer or decimal place.
In this comprehensive guide I will explain what rounding up means, how to use the ROUNDUP function with examples and some common uses and applications of rounding up in Excel.
What Does Round Up Mean in Excel?
Rounding up refers to increasing a number to the next highest integer or decimal value. For example:
- Rounding up 12.25 to the nearest integer gives 13
- Rounding up 76.123 to 1 decimal place gives 76.2
The ROUNDUP function in Excel performs this rounding up operation based on a specified number of decimal places.
The key difference between ROUNDUP and ROUND is that ROUNDUP always rounds the value away from zero whereas ROUND rounds values based on standard rounding rules.
Now let’s see how to use ROUNDUP in Excel with a few examples
How to Use ROUNDUP Function in Excel
The ROUNDUP function uses this syntax:
=ROUNDUP(number, num_digits)Where
number– The value to round upnum_digits– The number of decimal places to round up to
Let’s see some examples of rounding up numbers in Excel using ROUNDUP:
Round Up to Nearest Integer
To round up to the nearest integer, use 0 as the num_digits argument:
=ROUNDUP(3.2, 0) Returns: 4=ROUNDUP(76.9, 0)Returns: 77 This rounds up the values to the nearest whole number.
Round Up to Decimal Places
To round up to a specific number of decimal places, use a positive number for num_digits:
=ROUNDUP(3.14159, 3) Returns: 3.142 This rounds the value up to 3 decimal places.
Round Up to Left of Decimal
Use a negative num_digits to round up to the left of the decimal point:
=ROUNDUP(31415.92654, -2)Returns: 31500Here the large number is rounded up to the nearest 100.
Rounding Up in Excel Formulas
The ROUNDUP function can be used as part of larger formulas:
=ROUNDUP((Sales - Cost)/Items, 2)This formula first calculates the profit margin percentage, and then rounds up the result to 2 decimal places.
VBA Code for Round Up
The ROUNDUP function can also be used in VBA macros like this:
ProfitMargin = Application.WorksheetFunction.RoundUp(Sales / Items - Cost / Items, 2) This VBA code performs the round up calculation and stores the result in a variable.
When to Use Round Up in Excel?
Here are some common scenarios where you may need to round up numbers in Excel:
- Rounding up percentages and decimals to whole numbers
- Rounding up prices to simplify invoices and billing
- Rounding up figures for financial reporting
- Rounding up numbers for statistics and metrics tracking
- Rounding up formula results to show clean numbers without decimal places
Things to Remember About ROUNDUP
Here are some important things to keep in mind when using the Excel ROUNDUP function:
- Always rounds up away from zero, unlike
ROUNDwhich uses standard rounding rules - Use a positive
num_digitsto round up decimals, negative to round up left of decimal - Rounding up reduces accuracy of original figures to show simplified numbers
- Use
ROUNDUPalong withROUNDDOWNto find upper and lower bounds for figures - Does not work on text values or dates, only numeric values
- Displays error if
num_digitsis non-numeric like text or logical values
Difference Between ROUND, ROUNDUP and ROUNDDOWN
ROUNDrounds per standard rules either up or downROUNDUPalways rounds up away from zeroROUNDDOWNalways rounds down towards zero
So ROUNDUP and ROUNDDOWN give the upper and lower rounded values respectively.
Interactive Excel ROUNDUP Examples
Here are some interactive examples to see ROUNDUP in action:
![Excel Roundup Examples][image1]
Feel free to adjust the blue cells to test different values.
These examples demonstrate how ROUNDUP:
- Rounds up to different decimal places
- Works for positive and negative numbers
- Can be used in larger formulas
Uses and Applications of Rounding Up in Excel
Here are some of the common uses and applications of rounding up numbers in Excel using the ROUNDUP function:
- Finance – Round up interest rates, expense totals, invoice amounts
- Accounting – Round up profits, losses, margins to simplify reporting
- Project management – Round up task durations, budgets, contingencies
- Statistics – Round up large figures, percentages, metrics for analysis
- Science and engineering – Round up calculations, experimental data, measurements
- Business – Round up sales totals, targets, KPIs for tracking and evaluation
No matter what the use case, ROUNDUP provides a quick and easy way to round numbers up in Excel.
Limitations of ROUNDUP
While being very useful, the ROUNDUP function does have a couple limitations:
- It only works on numeric values, not text or dates
- The
num_digitsargument must be a real number, otherwise it shows an error - The rounding can reduce accuracy and distort original figures
- It does not allow additional arguments for custom rounding logic
So ROUNDUP has limited functionality, but serves the primary purpose of rounding up numbers very well.
The ROUNDUP function is a simple yet powerful tool to round decimal values up in Excel. By specifying the desired number of decimal places, you can easily simplify numbers and figures for reporting and analysis.
Example: Rounding Negative Numbers
In this particular example, youâll see what happens when you apply the ROUNDUP function to negative numbers.
When applying the ROUNDUP function to a negative number, youâll end up with a more negative result. For example, =ROUNDUP(-5.285,0) gives you -6 even though you might think technically -5 is greater than -6.
- ROUNDUP is similar to the ROUND function, but it always rounds up, away from zero.
- If you input 0 for num_digits, the function will round to the nearest integer. For example, =ROUNDUP(7.18,0) will give you 8.
- If you use ROUNDUP with a negative number, the function gives you a more negative number. For example, =ROUNDUP(-3.118,0) gives you -4.
- If you input a negative number for num_digits, the function will round up to the left of the decimal point. For example, =ROUNDUP(3.85,-1) gives you 10 and =ROUNDUP(3.85,-2) gives you 100.
- ROUND: Rounds a number based on specified digits. Numbers 0-4 round the nearest digit down and 5-9 round the nearest digit up.
- ROUNDDOWN: Rounds all figures down, closer to zero.
- CEILING: Rounds numbers up, away from zero, using an indicated multiple.
- FLOOR: Rounds numbers down, closer to zero, using an indicated multiple.
- INT: Trims off decimal places to keep the remaining integer.
- EVEN: Rounds up to the nearest even integer (2,4,6,8, etc.).
- ODD: Rounds up to the nearest odd integer (1,3,5,7,9, etc.).
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How to use ROUNDUP
To use the ROUNDUP function in Excel, click into a cell and type in =ROUNDUP to initiate the function. Next, youâll see 2 input prompts for ânumberâ which is the number you want to round up and ânum_digitsâ which is the number of digits you want to include after the decimal point. For example, =ROUNDUP(8.79,0) rounds 8.79 to 9.
The ROUNDUP function will always round a number up, away from zero.
- Number: The base number that you want to apply rounding to.
- Num_digits: The number of digits you want to include after the decimal point after rounding. (Ex. using num_digits 2 will round 8.755 to 8.76)
How to Round Up Numbers in Microsoft Excel
How to round up a value in Excel?
C5 is the time which we want to round up and 3 is the number digit that will round up the value to 3 decimal places. Similarly, you can round up the values for any number of decimal places by increasing the number digit of the ROUNDUP function.
What is a roundup function in Excel?
The ROUNDUP function in Excel rounds a number up or to the higher side either right or left to the decimal point. In this article, you will get to know the introduction and usage of the ROUNDUP function in Excel. ⦿ Function Objective The ROUNDUP function rounds a number up, away from zero. ⦿ Syntax ROUNDUP (number, num_digits) ⦿ Arguments
How to round a number in Excel?
Click OK and Excel shall format the selected dataset of numbers to a uniform fractional number, like up to two decimal points. If you put 0 in the Decimal places field, you get the nearest non-fraction integers. Enter the following ROUNDUP formula into a cell to the right of the target number value you want to round up to two decimal points.
How to round up a dataset in Excel?
Select the dataset which you need to round up. Click the Decrease Decimal button inside the Number commands block in the Home tab. Clicking once shall reformat the number values up to a specific number of decimal points. In the current tutorial, it’s up to four decimal points.
