Overview

Hi there,

This is fairly basic. I want to be able to count the number of cells which meet a specified criteria.

The COUNTIF function works if I enter the criteria manually within a COUNTIF formula. But the function doesn't seem to work if I try to reference criteria from another cell.

For example, suppose the range of cells I'm searching for matches within has been named

Possible_outcomes .

In addition, the criteria I'd like to use is in a cell called

PROFIT_THRESHOLD,

and is the result of a formula. Let's say the formula result equals 130.

Countif works when I enter the criteria manually, i.e.

=COUNTIF(Possible_outcomes,">=130")

But it returns only a 0 when I write the formula as

=COUNTIF(Possible_outcomes,">=PROFIT THRESHOLD")

I can't make the function work even if the criteria is in a cell which is not named either.

This is a serious obstacle to model automation. Any tips?