Ok, I think I have answered my own question with this

=SUMPRODUCT((LEFT($F$4:$F$1004,2)="SM")*$B$4:$B$10 04)

can anyone see anything wrong with that please?


"Chris" wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm using xl 2007. I need to sum figures in column B if the relevant
cell in column F has an entry that starts SM. I was trying to use
SUMPRODUCT but I can't seem to get the right way of using the LEFT
function to stipulate when to include the figure in col B. I was hoping
not to use an array formula just because I'm the only person here who
understands them. My question is; as SUMPRODUCT is numerical and LEFT is
text based, is that a bad mix? if so, how should I go about it please? I
know I could hive off the first 2 characters and mark a cell 1 or 0
according to if they match SM but if I did that I would want to hide those
columns and would prefer a one formula solution if possible.
Thanks
Chris