ABS
Return a number without its sign, so -150 and 150 both become 150.
Syntax
ABS(number)| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
number | Required | The number, cell, or expression whose sign should be dropped. |
Examples
Every example below was executed against VisiGrid engine 0.54.0 — not
transcribed from another vendor's documentation. Reproduce any of them with vgrid calc.
| Formula | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
=ABS(-7.5) | 7.50 | |
=A2-B2 | -150 | Budget minus actual is negative when spending ran over. |
=ABS(A2-B2) | 150 | The size of the variance, whichever side it fell on. |
=ABS("-3") | 3 | Text that reads as a number is converted first. |
The size of a difference, not its direction
The everyday use is tolerance checking. A reconciliation that should agree to within a dollar does not care which side is higher:
=IF(ABS(A2-B2)>1,"check","ok")Without ABS the test needs two comparisons, one for each direction, and the
second is the one people forget.
It hides sign errors as well as ignoring them
ABS makes every value positive, including ones that were negative by mistake.
A refund entered as a sale, or a debit posted as a credit, becomes
indistinguishable from a correct entry once it passes through ABS. Use it where
the sign genuinely carries no meaning, and keep the signed figure somewhere a
person can see it.
Excel compatibility
Matches Excel.