The CEILING MATH (CEILING.MATH) is a Math function that rounds a given number up to the nearest multiple of significance. This function has been released with 2013 version as a replacement for the CEILING function. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to use the CEILING MATH function and also go over some tips and error handling methods.


Supported versions

  • Excel 2013 and newer

Excel CEILING MATH Function Syntax

CEILING.MATH(number,[significance],[mode])


Arguments

number The number you want to round up.
[significance] Optional. The multiple to which you want to round. The default is 1.
[mode]

Optional. The direction to round negative numbers. The default is 0.

Use a negative number to change the direction of the rounding for negative numbers.



Examples

Rounding up to the nearest integer

If both optional arguments are omitted, the CEILING.MATH function rounds the number argument up to the nearest integer. The directions is away from 0 for negative numbers as well.

=CEILING.MATH(-23.254) returns -23

Rounding up to the nearest multiple of significance

Enter a [significance] value to round the number up to a specified multiple. You can use decimal value as well as integers. If you add a [significance] without the [mode] argument, CEILING.MATH rounds negative numbers away from zero by default.

=CEILING.MATH(-23.254,-0.04) returns -23.24

Rounding up to the nearest multiple of significance by mode

The [mode] argument specifies the rounding direction only for negative numbers. Any value other than zero (0), the default value, reverts the direction. Thus, the CEILING.MATH starts to round negative numbers away from zero.

=CEILING.MATH(-23.254,-0.04,1) returns -23.28

=CEILING.MATH(-23.254,-0.04,0) returns -23.24

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Tips

  • Excel released the CEILING.MATH function as a successor of the CEILING function. The support for CEILING function continues to not break backward compatibility.
  • Use the FLOOR.MATH function to round up to the nearest multiple.
  • If you need to round up to the nearest multiple, use MROUND
  • The [mode] argument doesn't have any effect on positive numbers.