The EXACT function is a text function which compares two strings to evaluate if they are a 100% match to one another, it is case sensitive and includes all non-printable characters in its comparison.

This is the format of the EXACT function:

=EXACT(STRING 1, STRING 2)

Here is an example of the EXACT function:

=EXACT(“a”,”A”) = FALSE 

This function is valuable when the validation of specific strings or values is critical to the work in question. This could be to minimize rounding errors from calculations against known good calculations or coefficients.

An example of a functional implementation of this would be calculating costings and margins on high volume goods. Sometimes calculations may change regarding currency conversion and need to be upheld in contacts with vendors and manufacturers. Using the EXACT function, you are able to validate that no changes were made between costings.

=EXACT(ORIGINAL COSTING RATE, CURRENT COSTING RATE)