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Chapter 5: Building Formulas 79
its name. (This means that there are no case restrictions when typing in the func-
tion name — you just have to be careful to spell its name correctly.)
The argument(s) used by the function immediately follow the function name and
they are enclosed in a balanced pair of parentheses — this means that for every
open parenthesis [(], you need a close parenthesis [)].
The functions that require or can take more than a single argument separate the
individual arguments within the parentheses with commas.

Even functions such as NOW that take no arguments require the use of a pair of
parentheses to finish them off; for example, =NOW(). If you omit the empty pair of
parentheses, Excel fails to recognize the function and returns the #NAME? error value
to its cell.

Excel classifies each of its built-in functions into one of nine categories (with a tenth
being custom functions that you define yourself), all of which are available from the
Insert Function dialog box, which you open by clicking the Insert Function button on
the Formula bar (the one with the fx marking).

Building a formula that uses a built-in function with the Insert Function dialog box
carries many benefits. Besides starting your formula by automatically entering the
requisite = (equal to) symbol on the Formula bar for you, this dialog box, shown in
Figure 5-2, contains the following features that aid you in locating and using any
function:

Search for a Function enables you to look for a function by entering a brief
description of the kind of calculation you want to do.
Or Select a Category enables you to find a function by selecting a category
(Financial, Date & Time, and so on) other than the default Most Recently Used
that keeps a record of the most commonly used functions, including the ones
you’ve used most recently.
Select a Function enables you to display syntax information showing you the
arguments plus a short description of any function you select in this list box.
Help on This Function displays online help (that you can also print) about the
usage and arguments required by the function currently selected in the Select a
Function list box.
As soon as you select your function in the Insert Function dialog box by selecting it
and clicking OK, Excel not only inserts the skeleton of the function on the Formula
bar but also displays a Function Arguments dialog box for the function, which you
can use in selecting the cell references and values to be used in the computation.

Figure 5-2:
The Insert
Function
dialog box
directs you
in correctly
adding any
Excel func-
tion to a for-
mula in the
spreadsheet.