Numbers function
ROUNDDOWN
Round towards zero.
Purpose
Round towards zero whatever the digits say
Returns
The number rounded down to the places you asked for
Syntax
=ROUNDDOWN(number, [places])
| Argument | Required | What goes here |
|---|---|---|
number | Required | The figure to round, or the cell holding it. |
places | Optional | 2 for cents, 0 for whole pounds. None means 0. |
How to use ROUNDDOWN
ROUNDDOWN discards the digits past the place you name and never carries. 1.9 to nought places is 1.
It is the tool for a completed count: whole months elapsed, full units delivered, periods actually finished.
Towards zero means a negative figure gets smaller in size, so -1.9 becomes -1. That is the difference between this and a floor.
Examples
Every result below is worked out by the same evaluator that marks your answers, on the sheet shown here.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Invoice | Supplier | Status | Days overdue | Amount | Supplier | Terms (days) | |
| 2 | INV-8801 | Brightwell Paper | Overdue | 12 | 940 | Ashgrove Catering | 30 | |
| 3 | INV-8802 | Calder Utilities | Queried | 47 | 1180 | Brightwell Paper | 30 | |
| 4 | INV-8803 | Meridian Freight | Overdue | 63 | 2450 | Calder Utilities | 14 | |
| 5 | INV-8804 | Ashgrove Catering | On terms | 0 | 405 | Meridian Freight | 45 | |
| 6 | INV-8805 | Brightwell Paper | Overdue | 38 | 760 | Thornbury Print | 60 | |
| 7 | INV-8806 | Thornbury Print | Overdue | 91 | 1320 | |||
| 8 | INV-8807 | Meridian Freight | On terms | 0 | 580 | |||
| 9 | INV-8808 | Calder Utilities | Overdue | 24 | 215 |
| Formula | Result |
|---|---|
=ROUNDDOWN(D3/30,0)Forty-seven days is one complete month overdue, with some days left over. | 1 |
=ROUNDDOWN(E2/100,0)Nine complete hundreds in nine hundred and forty pounds. | 9 |
=ROUNDUP(D3/30,0)-ROUNDDOWN(D3/30,0)The two side by side on the same figure, which is the clearest way to see that they answer different questions. | 1 |
Notes
- ROUNDDOWN towards zero is not the same as rounding to the lower number once negatives are involved.
Related
Practise ROUNDDOWN in Unit 18
A reference tells you what it does. A unit makes you use it.