Excel ROUNDUP: always round up (decimals, whole numbers, 10s)

Normal rounding sends 2.1 down to 2. ROUNDUP always goes up: 2.1 becomes 3. Useful for boxes needed, people per table, days to finish — anything where “a bit more” still needs a whole extra one.

The formula

=ROUNDUP(number, num_digits)

Real example: how many boxes?

250 items, 12 per box:

=ROUNDUP(250/12,0)

250/12 is 20.83. ROUNDUP gives 21 boxes. ROUND would give 21 too here, but for 241 items (20.08) ROUND says 20 and you would be one box short. ROUNDUP says 21.

Negative numbers

ROUNDUP moves away from zero: -2.1 becomes -3. If you want -2.1 to go to -2 (toward positive), use =CEILING.MATH(A2).

The family

• ROUND — nearest.
• ROUNDUP — always away from zero.
• ROUNDDOWN — always toward zero (same as cutting off digits).
• MROUND, CEILING.MATH — to a multiple like 5 or 0.25.

Rounding to 1,000s: round to the nearest 1000.