ROUND Function – How to Round Numbers in Google sheet

Whether you need to round numbers to the nearest whole number, the second decimal point, hundreds, or by a factor of three, google Sheets makes it easy using ROUND function and its type.

In this article, I’ll cover various rounding functions, its type ( ROUND, ROUNDUP, and ROUNDDOWN) and  how to use the round() in Google Sheets

What is Rounding?

Making a number simpler while maintaining a value that is close to its original value is known as rounding. For example, 489.2 could be rounded to 489, 490 or 500, depending on the degree of accuracy required.

Types of Round Functions in Google Sheets

Mainly there are four. The purpose of each varies slightly depending on the requirement.

  • ROUND
  • ROUNDUP
  • ROUNDDOWNROUNDDOWN function always rounds down numbers, and the syntax is the same as the others, ROUNDDOWN(value, places).

Standard Rules of Rounding?

The following are standard  rounding rules:

if the value of the number to the right of the rounding digit is < 5, then the rounding digit is left unchanged.

If the value of the number to the right of the rounding digit is > 5 , then the rounding digit is raised by one.

For example, if we are rounding off the number 1.984 to the 2nd decimal place so the digit to round off is 8. Right of 8 is 4 (4 is less than 5), so the digit to rounded off is remain the same 8 and the final answer is 1.98.

Second example if we round off 1.987 to the 2nd decimal palace so the digit to be round off is 8. RIght 8 is 7 ( 7 is greater than 5), so the digit to rounded off will increase by 1 and final result is 1.99

Anatomy of the ROUND() Function

The standard ROUND() Function syntax is :

=  ROUND(value , places)

Let’s Discuss each term of syntax :

  • ‘=’ with  equal sign we start writing any function in google sheet
  • Value is the number (Function input), you want to round. This may be numeric value or reference to the google sheet cells.
  • Places is the number of digit or decimal places you want to round off.

What is the function of Google Sheets?

Functions perform predefined calculations on your input data. For example, the ROUND() calculates the rounded value of its input.
Typically, A function has some input values and one output value. What happens in the between is handled by Google Sheets. The input of the function is called arguments.

Example of Round Function in google sheet

round function
ROUND Function - How to Round Numbers in Google sheet 8

As you can see in the above sheet the ROUND() rounds up the value 729.621 using different places (number of places).

The digits to the left of the decimal point will be rounded if there are negative places.

The digits to the right of the decimal point will be rounded if there are positive places.

Similar to the first example, you don’t need to specify how many places to round the amount to; it will round the value using 0 as the default place value.

ROUNDUP Function’s Syntax and Arguments

The ROUNDUP function in Google Sheets can be used to ensure that you always round your numbers

The syntax is the same as the ROUND function:

ROUNDUP(value, places)

The value, which might be either a number or a cell reference, is necessary. The optional locations parameter has a default value of 0.

Example :

You can just input the following formula and click Enter to round the value 86.567 up. The outcome is 87

ROUNDUP(86.567)
ROUNDUP
ROUND Function - How to Round Numbers in Google sheet 9

To roundup the same number 86.567 one decimal place

ROUNDUP(86.567,1)
234567 2
ROUND Function - How to Round Numbers in Google sheet 10

Similarly, we can use a negative number for the places argument

ROUNDUP(86.567,-1)
234567 6
ROUND Function - How to Round Numbers in Google sheet 11

ROUNDDOWN Function’s Syntax and Arguments

ROUNDDOWN function always rounds down numbers, and the syntax is the same as the others,

ROUNDDOWN(value, places).

To round last example number 86.567 down, we would enter the above formula and press Enter. The result is 86.

ROUNDDOWN(86.567)
ROUNDDOWN
ROUND Function - How to Round Numbers in Google sheet 12

To rounddown the same number 86.567 one decimal place

ROUNDDOWN(86.567,1)
234567 4
ROUND Function - How to Round Numbers in Google sheet 13

Similarly, we can use a negative number for the places argument

ROUNDDOWN(86.567,-1)

234567 5
ROUND Function - How to Round Numbers in Google sheet 14

You don’t have to fight or spend extra time rounding values in your spreadsheet. Just keep in mind these Google Sheets functions.

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