I'm trying to reference a cell for the criteria value but have been only able
to enter an actual value. For example I would like to use the following:

=SUMIF($J:$J,<A1,K:K)

where A1 is cell I'm trying to reference which happens to be a date value.
I've trying using paranthesis but it doesn't work. It only works for me when
I type in the actual value. The cell value changes frequently and I'm trying
to find a way to avoid have to change the value in the formula each time that
happens. Any help would be appreciated.