CEILING Function in Excel: Round Up to a Multiple (Classic)

📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓

MathLevel: IntermediateAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article

1. Syntax
2. Examples
3. Example 1
4. Example 2
5. CEILING in practice
6. Where you will use it
7. Worked example
8. Mistakes people make
9. Related functions
10. Continue learning

CEILING rounds up to the nearest multiple — prices ending in 5 or 9, pack sizes. CEILING.MATH is the newer version that handles negatives more simply.

Syntax

=CEILING(number, significance)

Argument	What it means
significance	The multiple.

Examples

Example 1

=CEILING(123, 5)

Returns 125.

Example 2

=CEILING(A2, 10) - 1

Round a price up to the next …9.

CEILING in practice

Where you will use it

• Round prices up to the next ₹5 or ₹10
• Round minutes up to billing slabs of 15
• Order quantities in full packs

Worked example

Value	Step	Formula	Result
487	10	=CEILING(A2,B2)	490
23	15	=CEILING(A3,B3)	30
1.31	0.25	=CEILING(A4,B4)	1.5

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

Mistake	What to do instead
Using ROUNDUP for steps	ROUNDUP works on digits; CEILING rounds to any multiple
Negative numbers behave oddly	Use CEILING.MATH for predictable negatives

Related functions

CEILING.MATH · FLOOR · MROUND

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📎 Practice files for this article

• 📗
  Practice workbook: Math & rounding24 tasks on realistic sales data — type your formula, the Check column turns green when it is right. Answers sheet included.
  ⬇ XLSX · 35 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.