You need to refer to the cell itself, not whats in it, eg if 'Electricity'
were in B7 in Sheet3 then,

=SUMIF('Outgoings'!$E$9:$E$26,Sheet3!B7,Outgoings' !$I$9:$I$26)

or if you name Sheet3 B7 'Electricity'

=SUMIF('Outgoings'!$E$9:$E$26,Electricity,Outgoing s'!$I$9:$I$26)
Regards,
Alan.

"Taxed Mind" <Taxed wrote in message
...
I have a SUMIF function analysing data across different worksheets.
However
currently I am manually typing in the "Criteria" (which is in text form)
in
to each different equation. The Criteria list is available on a seperate
worksheet, can I simply refer the equation to look at a defined cell in
another worksheet.

For example
=SUMIF('Outgoings'!$E$9:$E$26,"=Electricity",'Outg oings'!$I$9:$I$26)

So if the word "Electricity" is in cell 'Purchase List'!G8 can the formula
refer to the cell rather than the word Electricity?

Thanks in advance, a Taxed Mind.