6 Uncommon Uses of the OFFSET Function in Excel
Microsoft Excel’s OFFSET Function is a highly powerful and versatile tool. Due to its complexity and the number of similar functions, however, It is sadly often underutilized.
The relatively straightforward function can save Excel authors time and frustration. It simplifies pulling precise points of data from a well-organized master dataset. It also allows for the simple creation of highly detailed reports, interactive visualizations, and complex dashboards.
1. Creating Variable-Sized Datasets
One of the most common uses of Excel’s OFFSET Function is the capturing of variable-sized datasets. Given a large set of data, one may wish to look at only a small portion of the data at any given time.
For example, given an automated report of sales totals for employees daily, you may need to pull the totals for a given week or weeks.
Writing a different SUM function for each total could be quite easily done. However, an OFFSET function may be much quicker for ease of use and reusability.
First, enter the day of the month that we would like to start with into cell B6. Then we enter how many days we want to run the report into B7. Then, we can use asimple SUM functionandAVERAGE functionto get more data about each employee over the selected timespan:
Adjusting the start date or length of time is as simple as adjusting a single cell, which can make pulling variable sized data sets much easier.
2. Allowing Custom Report Generation
Using similar methods to those above makes developing a complete report with variable adjustment relatively easy. You can make the first argument in the OFFSET function reference another sheet. Doing so enables you to keep your data entry and reporting separate.
This will make it possible to pull select data slices from one sheet to another. Additionally, it allows you to display only the information relevant to your current report. Setting up a report showing daily totals using the same data from before is quite simple. you may do this without pulling the data for irrelevant days.
The following offset function placed in cell B5 will pull the number of days specified in B2. It starts on the week specified in B1, displaying only data for the relevant period:
It’s possible to restrict the entries in B1 and B2 andcreate dropdowns in Excelwith the number of available weeks using data validation.
3. Spreadsheet Pagination
The OFFSET Function can also achieve simple spreadsheet pagination, a task normally associated withusing the Excel Developer tab. This can make working with large datasets simpler and far more efficient.
When working with a spreadsheet with 30,000 rows of data, it will be difficult to look over the entire data set at once. Creating a dropdown that accepts a range of numbers from 1 to 300 allows us to quickly break the data up into pages of 100 results each.
The OFFSET function will always have its anchor set to the top left cell of the data. The second argument, however, is the vertical offset. This will equal the selected page number minus one times 100. The horizontal offset, the third argument, can be set to 0.
The fourth argument is set to 100, and the fifth argument to the number of columns in the dataset. This method makes it easy to break extremely large chunks of data into much more manageable pieces.
Here is an example of a paginated dataset. The data includes 500 samples of information recorded from a set of sensors on one sheet, and a paginated report on the other.
The report uses data validation in cell B1 to create a dropdown with the pages in it. The following expression in cell A3 creates the body of the report:
4. Slicing Data for Graphs
We can add a graph to the sales report we created before using the OFFSET function. The graph can pull variable information based on the data selected in the two drop-downs at the top of the sheet.
When changing the values at the top of the sheet, the graph will automatically change to reflect the selected weeks, giving a quick visual reference to anyone viewing the report.
Combining charts and graphs with the offset function makes visualizing complex and changing data far easier. It also allows for the generation of simple, in-Excel dashboards.
5. Pulling Information by Date Offsets
Searching for specific information based on timestamps isn’t unusual when talking about report data or data pulled from automated time processes. When considering a single period, using conditional functions such as IF or IFS to pull down only the required data isn’t difficult. If you need to pull data based on a range of days or times, it’s too easy to fall into a massive nested conditional.
Using a combination of COUNTIF and OFFSET, pulling data from a range of times or days is quite simple. Use a single cell to represent a starting day. Next, use another cell to represent the length of the time you want to pull from.
In the OFFSET Function, the height or width, depending on the layout of your data, can be set to a valueusing the COUNTIF function in Excel. This allows you to determine how many entries lay within the requested range and pull only the related data.
In this example, we have a dataset containing entries across several years. We can use the date entered in cell B1 and the following function to pull only entries that occurred after that date:
This adds considerable utility to a report, allowing you to filter values that came before or after a certain date. If you use the COUNTIFS function instead, you can even add in an end date, giving the end user more variability.
6. Combined With COUNTIF
In addition to extending time ranges, the COUNTIF function serves well for pulling specific slices of all types of well-ordered data with Excel’s OFFSET Function. It is possible to set the height and width arguments of the OFFSET function using COUNTIF. Additionally, you can easily modify any numerical data with an adjustable value from somewhere on your sheet.
If you had a list of transactions from a day ordered by the amount of the transactions, you could use this technique to pull every transaction over a certain amount. This could be accomplished using a simple OFFSET function like the following:
One of the most important things to make note of in this function is the second to last argument, COUNTIF(B2:B22, “<” & H3). The purpose of this argument is to specify how many rows to pull. To avoid potential errors in the pulled data, this limits the number of rows to only the number that matches the requirement.
Another important consideration for those looking to use OFFSET this way is that it will only work in the event that the data you are working with is well-ordered. Unordered data will not return the results you are looking for. Thankfully, Excel also includes a suite of automatic sorting tools to get your data into order.
You can use this to perform actions from variably slicing products based on price to pulling only operations run over a certain number of times. The ability to control the exact amount of data pulled gives fine-grain control over the precise sample of data you pull from your spreadsheets. This enables the creation of a variety of detailed, interactive reports.
This Is What the OFFSET Function Is Actually Useful For
Ultimately, the OFFSET function allows users to pull information from their spreadsheet with high precision. This saves time and allows users to perform more operations with fewer functions.
It simplifies pulling the precise data you need without resorting to nesting conditionals. It also saves users time and effort in creating custom reports, dashboards, and more in Excel.
Looking for a way to keep track of your stock and manage your inventory with ease? Learn how to create an easy-to-use inventory system in Excel.
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