Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Rounding Up to the Next Half.
Terry has a need to round numbers up to the next 0.5. This means that a number such as 1.1 would round up to 1.5, but 1.6 would round up to 2.0. He tried using MROUND, but it only rounds to the nearest half (1.1 becomes 1.0 and 1.6 becomes 1.5).
Excel provides several different functions that you can use for different rounding purposes, such as ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN, MROUND, FLOOR, CEILING, etc. Each of these has been discussed fully in other issues of ExcelTips. In this particular instance, CEILING would probably be the best solution:
=CEILING(A1,0.5)
This rounds the value in A1 upwards, to the next half. Actually, CEILING rounds away from 0, which means that positive numbers are rounded up but negative numbers are rounded down, away from zero. (For example, -1.1 would be rounded to -1.5, not to 1.0.)
Of course, there are multiple ways to do various tasks in Excel, and this type of rounding is no exception. If you would rather use ROUNDUP instead of CEILING, you could use the following formula:
=ROUNDUP(A1*2,0)/2
If you prefer to use MROUND, you could do the following:
=MROUND(A1+0.24999999,0.5)
This works because you are adding a value (0.249999) that always pushes MROUND over the half-way "tipping point" to force the result upwards.
These are just a few of the easy ways to accomplish the desired result. There are many other ways using the other rounding functions, as well.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11927) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Rounding Up to the Next Half.
Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!
Need to round the time in a cell to a certain value? There are a couple of ways you can do this with a formula.
Discover MoreWhen preparing financial reports, it may make your data easier to understand if you round it to the nearest multiple, ...
Discover MoreWhen working with financial data, it's easy to round values to the nearest dollar. What if you want them rounded to the ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2016-02-09 16:30:37
Chris G
You are correct "Bill H". I have 2013 and Ceiling.Math has an option for changing the mode so that it rounds away from zero.
Ceiling.Math(-2.1, 0.5) = -2.0
Ceiling.Math(-2.1, 0.5, 1) = -2.5
2016-01-31 07:21:52
Michael (Micky) Avidan
@Bill H,
You can still use CEILING with a "little twist":
=CEILING(A1,(A1>0)-0.5)
--------------------------
Michael (Micky) Avidan
“Microsoft® Answers" - Wiki author & Forums Moderator
“Microsoft®” MVP – Excel (2009-2016)
ISRAEL
2016-01-30 06:41:25
Bill H
I don't think that CEILING rounds away from zero. For example, CEILING(-2.1,.5) yields -2.0. (I'm using Excel 2010.)
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2018 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
Comments