Write spreadsheet formulas with AI: describe it, get the formula

You don't need to know function names. Describe your table and the result you want, and a chat assistant writes the formula.

Step by step

1. 1

   Start by describing your table

   The assistant can't see your screen, so tell it what's in each column first.

   Column names plus two or three sample rows are enough. Replace real names, phone numbers and other personal data with made-up values.

   The example sheet used in this guide (rows 2–11 shown)

   	A	B	C	D
   1	Date	Region	Sales rep	Revenue
   2	2026-09-29	Seoul	Kim Hana	310,000
   3	2026-10-01	Seoul	Kim Hana	250,000
   4	2026-10-02	Busan	Lee Doyun	180,000
   5	2026-10-07	Seoul	Park Seojun	300,000
   6	2026-10-13	Daegu	Choi Yujin	150,000
   7	2026-10-15	Busan	Lee Doyun	220,000
   8	2026-10-24	Seoul	Jung Minjae	190,000
   9	2026-10-31	Seoul	Park Seojun	240,000
   10	2026-11-02	Seoul	Kim Hana	270,000
   11	2026-11-05	Busan	Choi Yujin	160,000

   Download the example (CSV)

   Here is my spreadsheet layout.
   Column A: Date (2026-10-01 format)
   Column B: Region (Seoul, Busan, etc.)
   Column C: Sales rep
   Column D: Revenue (number)
   Data runs from row 2 to row 500.

2. 2

   Say exactly what result you want

   "Sum this up" is vague. "I want October revenue for Seoul in cell G2" — with the conditions and the target cell — is far more likely to get the right formula on the first try.

   Give me a formula for cell G2 that totals revenue for Seoul in October 2026. Use Excel syntax and explain what each part of the formula does.

   SUMIFS adds up only the rows that meet every condition you give it. Put this formula in cell G2 — it works the same in Google Sheets.

   fxCopy

   =SUMIFS(D2:D500, B2:B500, "Seoul", A2:A500, ">="&DATE(2026,10,1), A2:A500, "<"&DATE(2026,11,1))

   D2:D500

   What to add: revenue in column D

   B2:B500, "Seoul"

   Condition 1: rows where the region in column B is Seoul

   A2:A500, ">="&DATE(2026,10,1)

   Condition 2: dates in column A on or after 1 October

   A2:A500, "<"&DATE(2026,11,1)

   Condition 3: before 1 November. Safer than "up to 31 October" when some dates also carry a time.

3. 3

   Check it on a small range first

   Don't apply the formula to everything straight away. Try it on ten or so rows you can check by hand.

   If the answer is off, tell the assistant both the value you expected and the value you got — it can usually find the cause.

   Rows in the example sheet that are both Seoul and October

   	A	B	C	D
   1	Date	Region	Sales rep	Revenue
   3	2026-10-01	Seoul	Kim Hana	250,000
   5	2026-10-07	Seoul	Park Seojun	300,000
   8	2026-10-24	Seoul	Jung Minjae	190,000
   9	2026-10-31	Seoul	Park Seojun	240,000
   			Total	980,000

   I tried the formula on rows 2–11 and got 1,250,000. Calculating by hand, it should be 980,000. What's wrong?

   The difference is exactly 270,000. Among rows 2–11, find the Seoul row with 270,000 in revenue and check its date. If it falls outside October, one of the date conditions is missing.

   Make sure the formula includes A2:A11, "<"&DATE(2026,11,1). Without that end-date condition, November sales get added too.

   Check it

   • By hand, the total is 980,000. Shrink the formula's ranges to rows 2–11 (D2:D11, B2:B11, A2:A11) and check you get the same number.
   • Rows 2 (29 Sept) and 10 (2 Nov) are Seoul too, but not October, so they must be left out. Keeping rows just outside the date range in your sample makes the date conditions easy to check.
4. 4

   Paste error messages exactly

   If you see #N/A, #VALUE! or another error, paste the error and the exact formula you used. Often the cause is the data itself — dates stored as text are a classic.

   Common errors and what to check first

   You see	What it means	Check first
   #N/A	The lookup value isn't in the list (VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP and so on)	Extra spaces or a format mismatch between the value and the list
   #VALUE!	Text where a number should be	Numbers that are really text — they usually sit on the left of the cell
   #NAME?	Excel doesn't recognise a name in the formula	Function spelling, and the quotes around text conditions like "Seoul"
   0, no error	No row matched every condition	Dates stored as text, or stray spaces in region names

   My SUMIFS formula in G2 shows no error but returns 0.
   Formula: =SUMIFS(D2:D500, B2:B500, "Seoul", A2:A500, ">="&DATE(2026,10,1), A2:A500, "<"&DATE(2026,11,1))
   The dates in column A look like 2026-10-01 but sit on the left of the cell. What's wrong?

   The dates in column A are most likely stored as text. Excel stores real dates as numbers and aligns them to the right, so dates sitting on the left are usually text.

   Type =ISNUMBER(A2) in an empty cell. If it says FALSE, it's text. Select column A and choose Data → Text to Columns → Finish to turn the text into dates, and the formula will calculate properly.

   If your dates look different from 2026-10-01, step through to the wizard's last page instead of clicking Finish, and pick the date order (such as YMD) under column data format.