number - Required. The number to convert to absolute value. Can be a number, cell reference, or formula result.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value | Absolute |
| 2 | -15 | |
| 3 | 25 | |
| 4 | Formula: | =ABS(A2) 15 |
Convert negative to positive
=ABS(-15) → 15
Distance between two values
=ABS(10-25) → 15
Budget variance magnitude
=ABS(950-1000) → 50
Within acceptable range?
=ABS(102-100)<=5 → TRUE
Calculate the absolute difference between actual spending and budgeted amounts to show variance magnitude regardless of whether spending is over or under budget. The ABS function in Excel is critical for financial reporting, variance analysis, and budget tracking where you need to highlight deviations without caring about the direction. This Excel ABS formula helps finance teams identify significant variances, measure forecast accuracy, and create management reports that focus on variance size rather than positive or negative direction.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Department | Budget | Actual | Variance |
| 2 | Marketing | 50000 | 48500 | |
| 3 | IT | 30000 | 32500 | |
| 4 | Formula: | =ABS(B2-C2) 1500 |
Test whether product measurements fall within acceptable tolerance ranges by calculating absolute deviation from target specifications. The Excel ABS function enables symmetrical tolerance checking in manufacturing quality control, product inspection, and compliance testing. This ABS formula pattern is used in manufacturing plants, laboratories, and quality assurance teams to automatically flag out-of-spec items and maintain production standards.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Product | Measurement | Target | Status |
| 2 | Part A | 10.2 | 10 | |
| 3 | Formula: | =IF(ABS(B2-C2)>0.5,"OUT OF SPEC","OK") OK |
❌ The Problem:
✅ Solution:
=ABS(A1)The ABS function in Excel is designed specifically for this purpose. It is cleaner, faster, and more readable than conditional logic. Use the built-in Excel ABS formula whenever you need absolute values.
❌ The Problem:
✅ Solution:
=ABS(A1-B1)+ABS(B1-C1)Calculate absolute differences separately when you need to measure multiple deviations. The Excel ABS function should wrap each individual difference to preserve variance information for each comparison point.
❌ The Problem:
✅ Solution:
=SUMPRODUCT(ABS(A1:A10))Use SUMPRODUCT with ABS to sum absolute values, not the absolute of a sum. This Excel ABS formula pattern correctly calculates total magnitude when you need sum of absolute differences or mean absolute deviation.
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