How to SUM using NAMES in Excel

Microsoft Excel allows us to add our own names in Excel ranges or cells. An example of is when you want to calculate summaries in Excel.
Take the example of a budget with 4 Quarters: in each of the 4 quarters we have the totals for each Month from January to December (i.e Jan, Feb, Mar for Q1, April, May, June for Q2, July, August, September for Q3 and October November & December for Q4).

In Q1 we would like to sum the totals for each month and also the summaries in the annual summary (see excel file)

The first step is to give a custom name to Cells B2:B6. You can do this by:

1. Press CTRL + F3, then click new name or type the name in the name box or Click on the formulas tab, define name (Give the name "Expenses_January" - Note No spaces
2. Select cell  B7
3. Type: =SUM(Expenses_January) 
4. Press Enter

 Download File here (Using Range Names - Annual Budget) to download template