How can I check whether a column of dates are all before today's d

[Guest]

I'm working in Excel 2007.

I've got a column of dates, and I need to check the column as a whole to
ensure that every date is prior to today's date.

E.g. if today's date is 10/19/2007, and my column is the following:
8/17/1940
4/15/2007
10/18/2007
.... the data is okay; 0 of the dates violate the rule. However, if the
column is the following:
8/17/1940
4/15/2007
10/20/2007
.... then it's not okay, because a date (the third) violates the rule - it
falls after today's date.

I thought I could do it using COUNTIF(A:A,">TODAY()"), where A is the column
of dates, but that function always returns a 0 value, no matter whether the
dates are okay or not. If I replace TODAY() with a date, it works - for some
reason, it just won't recognize and evaluate the TODAY() function.

What am I doing wrong? I appreciate the help!

 

[T. Valko]

Try this:

=COUNTIF(A:A,"<"&TODAY())=COUNT(A:A)

The result will be either TRUE or FALSE.

 

[Guest]

Works great! (Now I've just gotta figure out WHY!)

Yay, an opportunity to learn something new.

Thanks again!

 

[T. Valko]

You're welcome. Thanks for the feedback!