#VALUE! error

[Kelly_Welly]

I have a simple spreadsheet where I have copied down the formula.

For example =SUM(E56+F56+G56+H56+I55)

then =SUM(E57+F57+G57+H57+I56)

but from the next line onwards I get the #VALUE! error message?! The values
are all numbers.

Any help would be great.

 

[Kassie]

Apart from changing your formula to a shorter version, not much wrong here?

Try =SUM(E56:H56)+I55.

If that doesn't help, (and I don't think it will), click the cell with the
error message.
A small square with an exclamation mark will appear. Click that and select
Trace error. See what comes up?

Most likely a cell with a number in it, but either formatted as text, of
with an apostrophy in front?

--
HTH

Kassie

Replace xxx with hotmail

 

[Kelly_Welly]

That was a great help. Thank you! Panic over now!

 

[David Biddulph]

If you're getting a #VALUE! error message then they're *NOT* all numbers.
They might look like numbers, but somewhere in there is at least one text
value. You can check by =ISNUMBER(cellref) and =ISTEXT(cellref).

You don't need =SUM(E56+F56+G56+H56+I55), as you haven't given the SUM
function anything to add to E56+F56+G56+H56+I55, hence you'll get the same
result as =E56+F56+G56+H56+I55.
You may find that if you actually *use* the SUM function it may be more
tolerant to text values. See what =SUM(E56,F56,G56,H56,I55) or
=SUM(E56:H56,I55) does for you.