Logic function

AND

Every test has to hold.

Purpose

Check that every one of several conditions holds

Returns

TRUE when every test is TRUE, FALSE as soon as one is not

Syntax

=AND(test1, [test2], ...)

ArgumentRequiredWhat goes here
test1RequiredA comparison that must be true.
test2OptionalA comparison that must be true.

How to use AND

AND takes as many tests as you want to give it and returns TRUE only if all of them hold.

On its own it is rarely the finished answer. It goes in the test slot of an IF, or into a conditional formatting rule, where what you actually want is the action that follows.

Widening a rule is what AND is for: a chase list of everything overdue is too long to be useful, and everything overdue by more than thirty days and worth more than five hundred pounds is a morning's work.

Swapping AND for OR keeps the same two tests and asks a different question, so it is worth saying out loud which one you mean before writing it.

Examples

Every result below is worked out by the same evaluator that marks your answers, on the sheet shown here.

Payables ageing — October.xlsxSheet1
Harbour Foods payables at 31 October 2026, with supplier terms alongside
ABCDEFGH
1InvoiceSupplierStatusDays overdueAmountSupplierTerms (days)
2INV-8801Brightwell PaperOverdue12940Ashgrove Catering30
3INV-8802Calder UtilitiesQueried471180Brightwell Paper30
4INV-8803Meridian FreightOverdue632450Calder Utilities14
5INV-8804Ashgrove CateringOn terms0405Meridian Freight45
6INV-8805Brightwell PaperOverdue38760Thornbury Print60
7INV-8806Thornbury PrintOverdue911320
8INV-8807Meridian FreightOn terms0580
9INV-8808Calder UtilitiesOverdue24215
FormulaResult
=AND(D2>30,E2>500)The amount clears the threshold and the age does not, so the answer is FALSE. AND needs both.FALSE
=AND(D4>30,E4>500)Sixty-three days and two thousand four hundred and fifty pounds. Both hold.TRUE
=IF(AND(D4>30,E4>500),"Chase","Leave")Wrapped in IF, which is how AND is nearly always used.Chase
=IF(AND(OR(C3="Overdue",C3="Queried"),E3>1000),"Escalate","")OR nested inside AND: either of two statuses, and over a thousand pounds.Escalate

Notes

  • AND takes up to 255 tests, though a rule needing more than three is usually a sign the question has not been settled yet.
  • Text comparisons ignore capitals, so C2="overdue" and C2="Overdue" behave the same.
Practise AND in Unit 12

A reference tells you what it does. A unit makes you use it.