the formula im using is

=VLOOKUP($E2, 'in AP'!$A$2:$M$206, 5, FALSE)

'in AP' is the name of the worksheet im getting the table array from.
the field im searching on contains numbers and text both, but i
changed everything to text format as well.
the data is sorted too. any idea why it isnt working even when im sure
that the formula is right?