SUM Function - Free Excel Practice Online

This free, interactive exercise teaches you SUM Function in Excel through 10 hands-on steps. Instead of watching a video, you type the real formula into a live spreadsheet grid and get instant feedback on every answer. It is part of the SUM Functions track and works right in your browser - no Excel install, no download, and no signup.

Practising SUM Function this way builds the muscle memory that transfers straight to using Excel at work, in interviews, or for certification prep. Work through the steps above, then keep going with the next lesson to build a complete, free Excel practice course.

What you'll practice in this SUM Function lesson

1. We'll start easy. All formulas in Excel start with = . Find the total January revenue by typing =B2+B3 then press Check Answer. - The formula =B2+B3 will return the sum of the values in cell B2 and cell B3 because the + operator adds numbers together
2. A better way to add numbers is to use the SUM function. Find total January revenue by typing =SUM(B2, B3) Notice how the function's arguments are separated by commas. - The formula =SUM(B2, B3) returns the sum of all cells included within the parentheses, which are cells B2 and B3.
3. You can pass a group of cells to a function by using a colon. B2:B6 tells Excel "every cell from B2 to B6". Find January Revenue by typing =SUM(B2:B6) - The formula =SUM(B2:B6) returns the sum of the values included in every cell in a range of cells. The range B2:B6 means "every cell from B2 to B6".
4. Now use the SUM function to find total revenue for February. - The question asks for total revenue in February, which is in column C. So the formula =SUM(C2:C6) would return the sum of revenues in the cells in the range C2:C6.
5. The CFO tells you that February revenue was misreported and the total needs to be increased by $100. Type =SUM(C2:C6, 100) - Remember the SUM function adds everything inside the parentheses that are separated by commas. So the formula =SUM(C2:C6, 100) would add 100 to the sum of the range of cells C2:C6.
6. Use the SUM function with the argument B7:G7 to find the total revenue from January to June. - Notice that there is a "Total" row in row 7, so to find the total of all months, the formula =SUM(B7:G7) returns the sum of all cells in the horizontal range B7:G7.
7. Use the SUM function to find the total revenue of Product A, Product C, and Consulting, all for JANUARY ONLY. Hint: The arguments look like this (?, ?, ?) - Notice that Product A revenues are in row 2, Product C revenues are in row 4, and Consulting Revenue is in row 6. So to find the total of these three revenue streams in January only (column B), the formula =SUM(B2, B4, B6) would return the sum.
8. Use the SUM function to find the total revenue of Product A, Product C, and Consulting for all the months. Hint: The arguments look like this (?:?, ?:?, ?:?) - Notice that Product A revenues are in row 2, Product C revenues are in row 4, and Consulting Revenue is in row 6. So to find the total of these three revenue streams for all months, we would need to sum three horizontal ranges of cells together. So the formula =SUM(B2:G2, B4:G4, B6:G6) would return the proper total.
9. Use the SUM function to find the total revenue for Product A, Product B, and Product C for all the months. Hint: you only need one argument that looks like this (?:?) - To find the sum of revenues for the first three revenue streams for all months, we can use the SUM function with one rectangular range of cells. The formula =SUM(B2:G4) would sum the contents of all necessary cells.
10. Use the SUM function to find the total of Product A revenue for ALL the months and January revenue for ALL products. Hint: Your arguments will look like this (?:?, ?:?) - To find the sum of Product A revenue (row 2) for all months, and all January revenue (column B) for all revenue streams, we can add together a vertical range of cells and a horizontal range of cells. The formula =SUM(B2:G2, B2:B6) would add together these two ranges.

SUM Function practice - FAQ