The ROUNDUP formula calculates the rounded value of a decimal number to the upward number according to the desired decimal places specified by the user. Recall that when we touched on the ROUND Function, we stated that the function rounds down any number any number less than 5 and rounds up numbers greater than or equal to 5. The ROUNDUP function however rounds all numbers up regardless of being less than or greater than 5. How could this function possibly be useful you might ask. Well, imagine you are planning an event or program for human beings and your estimate gives you a decimal for likely number of attendees. There is no way you can plan for say 50.2 people, it is either 50 people or 51 people you expect to attend, and it is always wise to go with the higher number just in case.
Syntax & Argument
The syntax of the ROUNDUP Function is as follows:
=ROUNDUP(number, [num_digits])
Just two arguments where:
number: represents the number you want to round, it could be an hardcoded number within the formula or you could refer to a cell containing the number.
num_digits: The place you instruct excel to round to. If the num_digit is 0, it means no decimal place, you want the number rounded up to the nearest whole number whilst number 1 means ROUNDUP to 1 decimal place.
Usage Notes
Just a few things to go over:
- Positive num_digit: If the num_digit is a positive number, the ROUNDUP function rounds on the right side of the decimal place.
- Negative num_digit: If the num_digit is a negative number, the ROUNDUP Function rounds on the left side of the decimal place.
- Zero num_digit: num digit of zero (0) rounds up to the nearest whole number, meaning that the function rounds up on the left side of the decimal place.
Don't worry if you are a little confused, we would treat each scenario discussed above in the next section.
ROUNDUP Examples
Round to right of decimal
To round to the right side of the decimal point, we use a positive number to represent the num_digit argument.
=ROUNDUP(13.832,2) // Returns 13.82
=ROUNDUP(5.4614,3) // Returns 5.462
The formula also works if you refer to cells containing the values. For example, let's assume that the 3 values there are listed in cells B3:B5. Then our formula would look like this:
=ROUNDUP(B4,2) // Returns 13.82
=ROUNDUP(B5,3) // Returns 5.462
Round to left of decimal
To round to the left side of the decimal point, we use a negative number of the number zero (0) to represent the num_digit argument.
=ROUNDUP(35.46,-1) // Returns 40
=ROUNDUP(756.3,-2) // Returns 800
As stated in the previous section, it also works when we refer to cells containing values. For example, let's assume that the values above were in cells A3:A5. In that case we edit the formula as follows:
=ROUNDUP(A4,-1) // Returns 40
=ROUNDUP(A5,-2) // Returns 800
Integrating the ROUNDUP Function in Financial Modeling
In this section, we would use the same example we used in our ROUNDDOWN Function walkthrough; In this scenario however, management would be taking a conservative approach. Any fraction would be rounded up to the nearest whole number. To recap, we have the actual revenue and headcount information for 20X1 which enables us to calculate the Revenue to Employee ratio, and we need to maintain this ratio in our forecast for the next 3 years. Of course, revenue may not remain same, we therefore need to create a simple working to calculate our headcount needs in line with our revenue forecast.
Now, we need to provide for an additional headcount if the calculated value is a fraction. To do this, we wrap the formula in the ROUNDUP Function.