Simplify Your Formulas with Excel’s LET Function!

Are you looking for ways to make your Excel formulas cleaner, faster, and easier to understand? The LET function might be just what you need! Introduced in Excel 365, LET allows you to define and reuse variables within a formula, making it shorter and more readable.

What is the LET Function?

The LET function lets you name your variables (like assigning a temporary name to a calculation or value) and use these names multiple times in the same formula. It can reduce calculation time since Excel only calculates each value once, even if you use it several times.

How Does LET Work?

The syntax of LET is:

• name1: Name of your first variable (like a shortcut name).

• value1: The value or formula for this variable.

• calculation: The actual formula or expression that will use the variables you’ve defined.

Example: Calculate Total Sales After Discount

Imagine you have a list of monthly sales figures in column C (cells C5) and want to calculate the total sales after a 10% discount. You could use the LET function to make this calculation simpler and more efficient.

Step 1: Define Variables

• Sales: The range of sales values (C5).

• Discounted_Sales: The sales values after applying a 10% discount.

Step 2: Use LET

In cell F6, we use the LET function with the following formula:

This formula does the following:

1. Defines as the range , which contains the sales figures before the discount.

2. Calculates by multiplying by (for a 10% discount).

3. Returns the total by using to add up the discounted sales values.

In this example, the result is 3106.8, which represents the total sales after applying the 10% discount.

Why Use LET?

1. Readability: Your formulas are easier to understand.

2. Efficiency: LET calculates each variable once, making your workbook faster.

3. Flexibility: You can modify variables in one place without rewriting the entire formula.

Try It Out!

Next time you’re working with a complex formula, see if LET can help simplify it. It’s a powerful way to save time and make your workbooks easier to follow.

Please Note!

Yes, the LET function is available exclusively in:

1. Microsoft Excel for Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), including:

2. Excel 2021, which is the standalone version of Excel released after Microsoft 365.

If you're using an older version of Excel, such as Excel 2016 or 2019, the LET function is not available. To access this feature, you’ll need to upgrade to Microsoft 365 or Excel 2021.

If you're unsure which version of Excel you’re using, you can check by going to: File > Account > About Excel.

Happy Spreadsheeting! 😊