The SUM function is a math and trigonometry function which returns the result of the addition of all valid numeric values within the selected range. True/false and text values are not included in the sum. It is a basic but highly useful function.

This is the format of the SUM function:

=SUM(RANGE 1, RANGE 2, RANGE 3, etc…)

Here is an example of the SUM function:

=SUM(1, 2, 3, 4, 5) = 15 

This function is valuable when you want to quickly take totals of all values within a set range, such as units sold, dollars generated, clients served, etc…

An example of a functional implementation of this would be to hold totals in a report to summarise metrics and display high level statistics.

=SUM(TOTAL PERIOD SALES DOLLARS)

=SUM(TOTAL PERIOD TRAFFIC)

=SUM(TOTAL PERIOD UNITS SOLD)