How to create a formula with nested IFs

This is a common technique to handle multiple conditions.

Let’s take a look.

In column J we need to add a formula that calculates a grade based on the average.

This can be done with nested IF statements.

In this case, I’ve made a table that clearly shows what score is needed for each grade.

Next, if you’re new to nested IFs, list out theIF functionsyou’ll need.

Here I’ve added IF statements directly to the table.

These are simply for reference when I build the formula later.

The first column shows the IF functions needed when moving from low scores to high scores.

The second column shows the IF statements needed when moving from high scores to low scores.

It’s important that you work in one direction.

For this example, let’s work from low to high.

Now add the first IF statement.

It sounds a little confusing, but this is the key to building a formula that uses nested IFs.

In the last IF statement, supply the final value in the table for the value if false.

In this case, that’s the grade “A”.

In this case, that’s four closing parentheses.

When I copy the formula down, we’ll get the correct grade for each score.

Each IF statement contains a test, and a value if true, and a value if false.

The additional IF statements are added as the value if false for the previous IF statement.