Summing up values in a column corresponding to unique distinct values in another column

Hi

I have two columns in excel, col A and col B.What I would want to achieve is following:

Col A Col B
A 2
A 2
A 2
B 3
B 3
B 3
B 3
C 3
C 3
C 3

Now I want a total of values in column B pertaining to unique (or say 1st occurences) of values in Col A. So in this case the output should be 8 ,Achieved as follows(2 +3+3).

I have already tried the solution in the following forum http://www.ozgrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59420 but it does not work.

Hope I have made myself clear.Request someone to help.

Put this formula in C1:

=IF(A1=A2,"",B1)

then copy down - it will give you the value for the last occurrence of column A values (assuming they are sorted, as indicated in your example). Then you can just sum column C.

If you want a single formula, then put this array* formula in C1:

=SUM(IF(A$1:A$10<>A$2:A$11,B$1:B$10))

*An array formula needs to be committed using the key combination of Ctrl-Shift-Enter (CSE), rather than the usual <Enter>.

Hope this helps.

Pete

Thanks to everyone for replying to this thread and wish each one of you a merry christmas and a happy new year ahead.