Could someone tell me is counta the correct function to use on the same
sheet.

Each time a defined range is used more than once on a sheet using the
following formula

=OFFSET(Sheet2!$H$9,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet2!$H:$H),1)

an extra empty cell is included

for example:

=OFFSET(Sheet2!$H$9,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet2!$H:$H),1)
1 empty cells are inluded in the range

=OFFSET(Sheet2!$I$9,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet2!$I:$I),1)
2 empty cells are inluded in the range

=OFFSET(Sheet2!$J$9,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet2!$J:$J),1)
3 empty cells are inluded in the range

Hope you understand what i am trying to discribe.

Pat