LookUp Returns Data Though there's no Corresponding Data

[Kerry Lange]

I've got two spreadsheets each with a customer list and data for their account--amounts paid, taxes applied, and so on. I'll call the spreadsheets "spreadsheet 1" and "spreadsheet 2".

I use the LookUp function,setup in spreadsheet 1, to search spreadsheet 2 for account numbers. The LookUp function first looks in spreadsheet 1 for the account number it's supposed to find in spreadsheet 2. When it finds the corresponding account number, it returns the amount paid from spreadsheet 2.

However, there are always a few customers on spreadsheet 1 that don't appear on spreadsheet 2. Yet, even for the account numbers that don't appear in spreadsheet 2 the LookUp function returns values. Shouldn't it be returning an error or a zero?

[JohnV]

See "Sort order" from the following from Help on VLOOKUP.

Syntax
=VLOOKUP(Search criterion;array;index;sort order)
Search criterion is the value searched for in the first column of the array.

array is the reference, which is to comprise at least two columns.

index is the number of the column in the array that contains the value to be returned. The first column has the number 1.

Sort order is an optional parameter that indicates whether the first column in the array is sorted in ascending order. Enter the Boolean value FALSE if the first column is not sorted in ascending order. Sorted columns can be searched much faster and the function always returns a value, even if the search value was not matched exactly, if it is between the lowest and highest value of the sorted list. In unsorted lists, the search value must be matched exactly. Otherwise the function will return this message: Error: Value Not Available.