As dates are just numbers to Excel, the earliest is:
=min(n2:ap2)

Regards,
Fred.

"TBA" wrote in message
...
one last request on this one.
the number of dates in N to AP vary from line to line.
how would I get a formula to tell me what the earliest date in the group
of
cells is?

thanks

"TBA" wrote:

Hi there. I want to create a formula to count the number of dates that
fall
before or after a set date. The sheet is structured so that there is a
column with the date of an interview, call it 'E'.
There are then a number of dates recorded in rows €˜N to €˜AP. I want to
create two separate formula that count the number of dates between €˜N
and
€˜AP that fall before or after the date in €˜E. I tried:
€œ=COUNTIF(N2:BR2,N2:BR2<C2)€� but it returns €˜0. Any suggestions?