How to use the MROUND function
What is the MROUND function?
The MROUND function calculates a number rounded to a given multiple.
What's on this page
1. Introduction
What is a multiple?
In mathematics a multiple is a number that can be divided evenly by another number with no remainder. For a number to be a multiple it must be divisible by x with 0 remainder.
For a number x, multiples of x are numbers like 2x, 3x, 4x and so on. For example, 20 is a multiple of 4 since 20/ 4 = 5 with no remainder.
How to round numbers?
Rounding is a method to simplify a number by reducing its digits while keeping its approximate value close to the original value.
There are a few common ways to round:
- Round to a set number of decimal places, rounding 2.13579 to 2 decimal places gives 2.14.
- Round up or down to the nearest integer, rounding up 2.3 gives 3. Rounding down 2.3 gives 2.
- Round to a set increment, rounding to the nearest 10 rounds 17 to 20.
- Round to significant figures, rounding 2.333 to 3 significant figures gives 2.33.
When rounding, look at the first digit after where you want to round. If it's 5 or more, round up. If less than 5, round down. Rounding makes numbers cleaner and easier to work with in many everyday situations, however, they may also cause rounding errors like rounded values can compound errors. Rounding measurements and constants may reduces precision. It is better to round numbers after performing calculations than before.
What is a decimal place?
A decimal place refers to each position held by a digit in a number. The first decimal place is the tenths place (1/10), the second is the hundreds place (1/100) and so on.
What is an integer?
An integer is a whole number that can be positive, negative, or zero, but not a fraction or decimal.
What is a "a set increment"?
A "set increment" is a fixed regular number interval that is used as the rounding value or unit.
- Rounding to the nearest 10 uses a set increment of 10. Valid rounded values are ..., -20, -10, 0, 10, 20, 30, ...
- Rounding to the nearest 0.5 uses a set increment of 0.5. Valid values are ..., 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, ...
What other Excel functions round numbers?
| ROUND | Rounds a number to a specified number of digits |
| ROUNDUP | Rounds a number up, away from zero |
| ROUNDDOWN | Rounds a number down, towards zero |
| MROUND | Rounds a number to the nearest multiple of a specified value |
| CEILING | Rounds a number up to its nearest multiple. |
| ODD | Returns number rounded up to the nearest odd integer. |
| EVEN | Rounds a number up to the nearest even whole number. |
| FIXED | Rounds a number to the specified number of decimals, lets you ignore comma separators. |
2. Syntax
MROUND(number, multiple)
| number | Required. The value to round. |
| multiple | Required. The multiple you want to use. |
Warning, the rounding direction is undefined for midpoint numbers.
3. Example
This example demonstrates how the MROUND function works, it takes two arguments number and multiple and returns the number rounded to the given multiple.
The first number is 20 and the multiple is 3. 3*6 = 18 and 3*7 = 21. 21 is closer to 20 so the MROUND function returns 21.
Formula in cell D3:
The second number is -20 and the multiple is -7. -7*3 = -21 and -7*2 equals -14. -21 is closer to -20 than -14.
The third number in cell B5 is 30 and the multiple specified in cell C5 is 4. 4*7=28 and 4*8=32. The MROUND function rounds 30 up to 32.
The fourth number is 16 and the multiple is 0.6. 26*0.6 = 15.6 and 27 * 0.6 = 16.2 16 is closer to 16.2 than 15.6. The MROUND function rounds 16 to 16.2
The fifth number is -14 and the multiple is -0.9. 15*-0.9 = -13.5 and 16*-0.9 = -14.4. The MROUND function rounds -14 to -14.4
4. How to round a date to the nearest given weekday?
The formula in cell C6 rounds the date in cell B6 to the nearest weekday based on the value in cell C2.
Cell C3 calculates the relative position of the weekday in cell C2 if the week begins on a Sunday.
Formula in cell C3:
If you want one bigger formula you can combine them and use the following formula instead:
Excel dates are actually numbers formatted as dates, for example 1/1/1900 is 1, 2 represents 1/2/1900 etc. This allows us to"round" dates to the nearest specified weekday.
- Cell B6 contains Tuesday 1/25/2022 which represents integer 44586. The formula in cell C6 finds the closest Tuesday based on the date given in B6 and the specified weekday in cell C2. 1/25/2022 is a Tuesday so it won't be rounded to its nearest Tuesday when infact that date is already a Tuesday.
- Cell B7 contains Sunday 5/7/2023 which represents 45053. The nearest Tuesdays are Tuesday May 9th, 2023 and Tuesday, May the 2nd, 2023. The MROUND function rounds Sunday 5/7/2023 to Tuesday May 9th, which is the closest date.
4.1 Explaining formula in cell C3
Step 1 - Find the relative position of weekday
The MATCH function returns a number representing the relative position of a given value in an array or cell range.
MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, [match_type])
MATCH($C$2,{"Sunday";"Monday";"Tuesday";"Wednesday";"Thursday";"Friday";"Saturday"},0)
becomes
MATCH("Tuesday", {"Sunday"; "Monday"; "Tuesday"; "Wednesday"; "Thursday"; "Friday"; "Saturday"}, 0)
and returns 3. Tuesday is the thrid value in the array.
Step 2 - Calculate Excel date
7-MATCH($C$2,{"Sunday";"Monday";"Tuesday";"Wednesday";"Thursday";"Friday";"Saturday"},0)+B6
becomes
7-3+B6
becomes
7-3+44586 equals 44590
Step 3 - Round date
The MROUND function rounds a number to a given multiple.
MROUND(number, multiple)
MROUND(7-MATCH($C$2,{"Sunday";"Monday";"Tuesday";"Wednesday";"Thursday";"Friday";"Saturday"},0)+B6,7)
becomes
MROUND(44590,7)
and returns 44590.
Step 4 - Calculate date of nearest weekday
MROUND(7-MATCH($C$2,{"Sunday";"Monday";"Tuesday";"Wednesday";"Thursday";"Friday";"Saturday"},0)+B6,7)-(7-MATCH($C$2,{"Sunday";"Monday";"Tuesday";"Wednesday";"Thursday";"Friday";"Saturday"},0))
becomes
44590 - (7-MATCH($C$2,{"Sunday";"Monday";"Tuesday";"Wednesday";"Thursday";"Friday";"Saturday"},0))
becomes
44590-(7-3) equals 44586.
5. How to round a date to the nearest upcoming weekday?
The following formula finds the closest given weekday in the future. For example, "Monday" is specified in cell C2 which represents weekday number 2 if the week starts on a Sunday. The date given in cell B6 is Tuesday 1/25/2022, the next upcoming Monday is 1/31/2022.
Formula in cell C6:
The difference between this formula and the formula in section 4 above is that this fomrula always finds the closest given weekday in the future while the formula in section 4 above finds the closest weekday. It may sometimes be a date in the future but it can also be a date in the past, it depends on which date is closest.
5.1 Explaining formula in cell C6
Step 1 - Check if weekday is less than or equal to value in C3
The WEEKDAY function returns a number representing the weekday.
WEEKDAY(serial_number,[return_type])
WEEKDAY(B6, 1)<=$C$3
becomes
WEEKDAY(44586, 1)<=$C$3
becomes
3<=$C$3
becomes
3<=2
and returns FALSE.
Step 2 - Evaluate IF function
The IF function returns one value if the logical test is TRUE and another value if the logical test is FALSE.
IF(logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])
IF(WEEKDAY(B6, 1)<=$C$3, $C$3-WEEKDAY(B6, 1)+B6, $C$3-WEEKDAY(B6, 1)+B6+7)
becomes
IF(FALSE, $C$3-WEEKDAY(B6, 1)+B6, $C$3-WEEKDAY(B6, 1)+B6+7)
and returns
$C$3-WEEKDAY(B6, 1)+B6+7
Step 3 - Calculate nearest upcoming weekday
$C$3-WEEKDAY(B6, 1)+B6+7
becomes
2-3+B6+7
becomes
2-3+44586+7
and returns 44592.
6. How to round time to the nearest hour?
This example demonstrates a formula that allows you to round a time value in Excel to its nearest hour.
Formula in cell C3:
Excel first evaluates the value in cell B3, which is 12:01:00 AM (or 0.000694444444444444 in decimal time format). The function then rounds this value to the nearest multiple of 1/24, which is 1 hour. Since 12:01:00 AM is closer to 12:00:00 AM than to 1:00:00 AM, the MROUND function rounds it down to 12:00:00 AM.
6.1 Explaining formula in cell C3
Step 1 - Excel time
Excel time is between 0 (zero) and 1. 24 hours is equal to 1.
1/24
An hour is equal to 1/24.
Step 2 - Round time to the nearest hour
MROUND(B3,1/24)
becomes
MROUND(0.000694444, 1/24)
becomes
MROUND(0.000694444, 0.041666667)
and returns 0 (zero) which is 12:00 AM.
7. How to round time to the nearest quarter of an hour?
This example demonstrates a formula that allows you to round a time value in Excel to its nearest quarter of an hour.
Formula in cell C3:
Excel first evaluates the value in cell B3, which is 12:01:00 AM (or 0.000694444444444444 in decimal time format). The function then rounds this value to the nearest multiple of 1/96, which is 15 minutes. Since 12:01:00 AM is closer to 12:00:00 AM than to 12:15:00 AM, the MROUND function rounds it down to 12:00:00 AM.
7.1 Explaining formula in cell C3
Step 1 - Excel time
Excel time is between 0 (zero) and 1. 24 hours is equal to 1.
An hour is equal to 1/24. A quarter is 1/4 of an hour.
(1/24)*(1/4)
Step 2 - Round time to the nearest hour
MROUND(B3, (1/24)*(1/4))
becomes
MROUND(0.000694444, (1/24)*(1/4))
becomes
MROUND(0.000694444, 0.0104166666666667)
and returns 0 (zero) which is 12:00 AM.
Useful links
Functions in 'Math and trigonometry' category
The MROUND function function is one of 62 functions in the 'Math and trigonometry' category.
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