The NOT function

The NOT function is a logical function which inverts the result of a Boolean equation. TRUE becomes FALSE, and FALSE becomes TRUE.

This is the format of the NOT function:

=NOT(BOOLEAN EQUATION)

Here is an example of the NOT function:

=NOT(1+1=3) = TRUE 

NOT function converting a FALSE output into a TRUE output

This function is valuable when it is easier to test the validity of a statement than its invalidity or vice versa. In certain situations, testing one versus the other can result in shrinking a formula down to something much more manageable.

An example of a functional implementation of this would be testing against a specific class of client, and analysing the data with the omission of those in that class. Especially if client class is not determined by a single factor, or represented in a single cell, it can be very difficult to track this inverted request.

ex: Clients who fall into class A are tagged as having accounts in ‘CAD’ which is in column D, and balances of $100,000 or more which is in column E, or who have accounts tagged as ‘Investor’ which is in column B. We want to omit these clients.

=NOT(OR(AND(D2=”CAD”,E2>=100000),B2=”Investor”))