You can use the sumproduct formula to count (or total) multiple conditions;
check http://www.xldynamic.com/source/xld.SUMPRODUCT.html
You might also look at the DCOUNT function.

"PK" wrote:

I am using Excell to extract and interigate information provided to me in a
spreadsheet format of fire rescue related incidents to allow me to identify
trends etc.

The spreadsheet consists of headed columns.
What I am trying to do is excell to look in different columns for a criteria
and then tell me how many entries match the criter.

For exmple Column Q may be a list of areas within the county, Column K may
be a list of incident types, m- a list of causes, j types of property and P
may be numbered category that the property type belongs.

What I need it to do is count how many rows match a criteria such as
Dwelling fires (identified as "-1" in P), Fire listed in column K, of
suspicious origin - Column M, in the area of Surrey Heath (listed in column Q)

I would very much appriciate any help anyone can offer
--
pk