ROUNDUP Function in Excel: Always Round Away From Zero

📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓

MathLevel: BeginnerAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article

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

ROUNDUP always rounds up (away from zero); ROUNDDOWN always rounds down. Useful for packing, billing and slabs.

Syntax

=ROUNDUP(number, num_digits)

Argument	What it means
num_digits	0 = whole number, 2 = two decimals, −2 = hundreds.

Examples

Example 1

=ROUNDUP(C2/12, 0)

Cartons needed for C2 items packed 12 per carton.

Example 2

=ROUNDUP(A2/3, 0)

Quarter number from a month number.

ROUNDUP in practice

Where you will use it

• Number of boxes needed
• Billing in whole hours or months
• Pages needed for printing

Worked example

Value	Digits	Formula	Result
7.01	0	=ROUNDUP(A2,B2)	8
2.666667	0	=ROUNDUP(A3,B3)	3
1234.501	2	=ROUNDUP(A4,B4)	1234.51

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

Mistake	What to do instead
Rounding an already rounded value	Round once at the final step
Negative numbers	ROUNDUP goes away from zero

Related functions

ROUNDDOWN · ROUND · CEILING.MATH

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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.