=SUM(OFFSET(A1,,,SMALL(IF(A1:A5<"",ROW(A1:A5)),2) ))

Array-entered.

HTH
Jason
Atlanta, GA

-----Original Message-----
is there a way to tell excel to sum the next two non-
empty cells in a range?

A1 = 5
A2 = ""
A3 = ""
A4 = 4
A5 = ""

A1 = 5
A2 = 4
A3 = ""
A4 = 7
A5 = ""

if i wanted to evaluate A1:A5, and add only the first two
non-empty cells,
so either way, the formula would return the result of
9. TIA.


.