How to use SUMIFS to add up only the rows that match

Adding up every row is easy. Adding up only the ones that meet your conditions is where SUMIFS earns its keep. Here it totals the amount for one customer, and only where the status is Paid.

The formula

=SUMIFS(C:C,A:A,"Acme",B:B,"Paid") in column E

What each part does

SUMIFS: Adds up numbers, but only on the rows that pass every test you set. It reads as: the numbers to add, then each test in pairs.
C:C: The whole of column C, the numbers to add up. C:C means every cell in that column. Change the letter to wherever your numbers are.
A:A, "Acme": The first test, given as a pair: the column to check, then what to look for. This keeps only the rows where column A says Acme. The text goes in quotes.
B:B, "Paid": A second test, added the same way. Both must be true for a row to count. You can add more pairs, or delete this one to test on just column A.

How it works, and what to watch for

The argument order catches people out. Unlike SUM, the range you are adding comes first, and then each condition arrives as a pair: where to look, and what to look for.

Every range has to cover the same rows. If the amounts run to row 500 but a condition range stops at row 400, Excel answers with #VALUE!.

Text conditions go in quotes, and so does a number with an operator in front of it, like ">100". Forgetting those quotes is one of the most common slips.

Questions

Why does my SUMIFS return zero?

Almost always the text does not match exactly, often a trailing space or "Paid " against "Paid", or a date condition undone by a hidden time. Check for stray spaces before anything else.

SUMIF or SUMIFS?

SUMIFS works with one condition or with several. Its argument order is also easier to follow. Use it even when you have only one condition today, because adding a second one later is then simple.

The example sheet

Customer	Status	Amount
Acme	Paid	1200
Bellrose	Paid	800
Acme	Paid	450
Acme	Open	300
Bellrose	Open	600

If this helped, these are close by

A total for each name — Summary beside the raw rows
Total the rows between two dates — Everything from one date up to another
Add up one customer's rows — A total for a single condition

When this formula goes wrong

SUMIFS returns 0 when it should have a total — Conditions that quietly match nothing
Excel will not accept a formula that looks correct — Commas where semicolons are expected

More on SUMIFS, and every walkthrough that uses it.

Formula Steps Watch how Excel formulas are built. Download the sheet.

Settings: separator, Excel version

Argument separator

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.