I started off with a simple formula but am I making too much of it?

I wanted a cell (Y38) to give the status of the record based on the date in
cell W38.
If there was no date in X38 (date a letter was sent) then I would either get
an 'overdue' message or a 'complete' message depending on the date in W38

W= date due
X = date sent
Y = status

=IF(TODAY()<=W38,"",IF(AND(TODAY()W38,X38=""),"Ov erdue","Complete"))

This worked fine, but I noticed if the letter was sent early (add a date to
cell X38) the status cell would remain blank and today's date had passed.

So I thought the following might work.
=IF(X38<"","Complete",IF(TODAY()<=W38,"",IF(AND(T ODAY()W38,X38=""),"Overdue","Complete")))

It does work, but Excel is telling me the formula is inconsistent, does this
matter, am I over complicating things?

Appreciate any feedback.
Thanks
Mick

Hi Mick

It does work, but Excel is telling me the formula is inconsistent, does
this
matter, am I over complicating things?

No, Excel is just trying to be helpful by telling you that your formula is
inconsistent
with the formulas in the adjacent cells. Turn off error checking and no more
(helpful??) messages will appear!

HTH
Martin

Yes, you are overcomplicating things in your second formula. You don't need
the final IF test, as the AND() conditions you quote have to be true to get
there in the first place.
Won't
=IF(X38<"","Complete",IF(TODAY()<=W38,"","Overdue "))
give the same result?
If in doubt, draw up a truth table.
--
David Biddulph
Rowing web pages at
http://www.biddulph.org.uk/
"Mick" wrote in message
...
I started off with a simple formula but am I making too much of it?

I wanted a cell (Y38) to give the status of the record based on the date
in cell W38.
If there was no date in X38 (date a letter was sent) then I would either
get an 'overdue' message or a 'complete' message depending on the date in
W38

W= date due
X = date sent
Y = status

=IF(TODAY()<=W38,"",IF(AND(TODAY()W38,X38=""),"Ov erdue","Complete"))

This worked fine, but I noticed if the letter was sent early (add a date
to cell X38) the status cell would remain blank and today's date had
passed.

So I thought the following might work.
=IF(X38<"","Complete",IF(TODAY()<=W38,"",IF(AND(T ODAY()W38,X38=""),"Overdue","Complete")))

It does work, but Excel is telling me the formula is inconsistent, does
this matter, am I over complicating things?

Appreciate any feedback.
Thanks
Mick

David
Many thanks for the 'simple' version.

Martin
Thanks also for your response.
Mick
"David Biddulph" wrote in message
...
Yes, you are overcomplicating things in your second formula. You don't
need the final IF test, as the AND() conditions you quote have to be true
to get there in the first place.
Won't
=IF(X38<"","Complete",IF(TODAY()<=W38,"","Overdue "))
give the same result?
If in doubt, draw up a truth table.
--
David Biddulph
Rowing web pages at
http://www.biddulph.org.uk/
"Mick" wrote in message
...
I started off with a simple formula but am I making too much of it?

I wanted a cell (Y38) to give the status of the record based on the date
in cell W38.
If there was no date in X38 (date a letter was sent) then I would either
get an 'overdue' message or a 'complete' message depending on the date in
W38

W= date due
X = date sent
Y = status

=IF(TODAY()<=W38,"",IF(AND(TODAY()W38,X38=""),"Ov erdue","Complete"))

This worked fine, but I noticed if the letter was sent early (add a date
to cell X38) the status cell would remain blank and today's date had
passed.

So I thought the following might work.
=IF(X38<"","Complete",IF(TODAY()<=W38,"",IF(AND(T ODAY()W38,X38=""),"Overdue","Complete")))

It does work, but Excel is telling me the formula is inconsistent, does
this matter, am I over complicating things?

Appreciate any feedback.
Thanks
Mick