When SUMIFS comes back as zero, the sum range is usually fine. It is the criteria that are not matching the rows you expect.
What causes it
The criteria text is not an exact match
A condition of "Paid" will not match a cell that reads "Paid " with a trailing space, or "paid" in a different case for some data. Check the actual cell contents, not how they appear.
A date criterion is defeated by a time
If a date cell secretly holds a time as well, a condition of "=01/03/2026" will miss it, because the real value is a moment on that day, not the whole day. Use ">=" and "<" with DATE to cover the full day.
The dates are text, not real dates
A column that looks like dates but sits on the left of the cell is text. SUMIFS cannot compare text to a date. Convert the column to real dates first.
The ranges do not line up
If the sum range covers rows 2 to 500 but a criteria range covers 2 to 400, Excel returns #VALUE! rather than zero, but a partial overlap can quietly undercount. Keep every range the same height.
What to do
Check one condition at a time. Replace the formula with a plain COUNTIFS using just the first condition and see whether it finds any rows at all. If the count is zero, that condition is the problem, most often a stray space or a text-versus-date mismatch.
Questions
How do I check for a trailing space?
Put =LEN(C2) next to the cell. If it is one longer than the visible text, there is a space. =TRIM(C2) removes it.
Why does SUMIF work but SUMIFS does not?
They use a different argument order. In SUMIF the range comes first, then the criterion. In SUMIFS the sum range comes first, then range-and-criterion pairs. Mixing the two orders is a common slip.
Set by your computer's language, not by the file. A frequent cause of a correct-looking formula being rejected.
Excel version
XLOOKUP, IFS, TEXTBEFORE and TEXTJOIN need Microsoft 365 or 2021; older versions return #NAME? instead. Choosing the older one switches every walkthrough to a formula that works there.
