Final exam guide for A2: Logical functions, charts, and tables

If you're having trouble with your A2 - Elementary certification exercises, make sure you can answer "Yes" to these questions before reaching out to a teacher:

• If you are working with logical and conditional functions: Did you put your text and logical operators inside double quotes (e.g., "Pass" or ">500")?

• If you are working with the IFS family (SUMIFS/COUNTIFS): Did you verify that the range containing the numbers (sum_range) always comes first in the argument order?

• If you are working with tables: Did you ensure the table name contains no spaces?

• If you are creating charts: Did you select the correct data, including (or excluding) headers exactly as instructed?
  
  

If you’ve answered all these questions and you’re still having issues, check the following guide with common errors in the A2 final exam and how to solve them: 

Problem #1: Errors when calculating Mode or Median.

Solution: Verify that your cell range is correct. For exercises asking for statistics for a specific salesperson per row, ensure you select the horizontal range (e.g., C5:I5) and not the entire column. This ensures the result is calculated individually for each record.

Problem #2: Confusion between COUNT and COUNTA.

Solution: If the exercise asks for the "number of amounts," use COUNT, as it only tallies cells with numeric values. If you use COUNTA on a column that includes text headers, your total will be higher than the exercise requires.

Problem #3: SUMIFS or COUNTIFS return 0 or an error.

Solution 1: Ensure all ranges involved have the exact same number of rows (e.g., $B29:B100$ and $G29:G100$). If they don't match, the function will fail.

Solution 2: To filter by a specific year (e.g., 2024), use the date range with the criteria ">=01/01/2024" and "<=12/31/2024". Always keep them in double quotes and use the month/day/year order.

Problem #4: IF and SUM aren't giving the right result.

Solution: Review the logic for the commission exercise. The formula must first evaluate if the sum of a range exceeds a value, then apply the calculation.
Ejemplo: =IF(SUM(C5:I5)>20000, SUM(C5:I5)*5%, 0). A common mistake is forgetting the Value_if_false argument (0) or failing to close the parentheses for the SUM function correctly.

Problem #5: The result for a "Not Equal To" criterion is incorrect.

Solution: To filter records that do not belong to a category (e.g., everything except "Store D"), you must use the <> operator inside the quotes: "<>Store D".

Problem #6: I can't rename the table or I get an error when trying.

Solution: This is almost always caused by using spaces. In the Table Design tab, type the name exactly as required (e.g., TOTAL_SALES) and make sure to press Enter to commit the change.

Problem #7: The chart won't validate even though the data is correct.

Solution: The platform validates both the data and strict formatting. Use the Ctrl key to select only the required columns (e.g., Salespeople and Total Amount). Also, check if you applied Bold and Underline to the title after linking it, if the prompt required it.

Are you still having trouble with a specific A2 task? Check out our related article on common errors for more tips on mastering logical functions, charts, and tables!