Spreadsheet functions aren’t just for accountants and financial analysts.

We don’t often find ourselves calculating annual revenue growth or building discounted cash flow models, but we do use spreadsheet functions often throughout the day. The functions we use are what we like to call “everyday formulas” because they are quick ways to solve problems that we face on a daily basis.

From calculating the days we have until a project is due or translating text from a foreign language, there are lots of useful functions tucked away in Google Sheets. We have put together the five functions that we use most often and think you should be using too. 

1. Calculate how many days you have to work on a project

Using the DATEDIF() function you can calculate the number of days between two dates. We use this when we are assigned a due date on a project or we are trying to figure out how many days we will be out of the office when planning a vacation. Just enter DATEDIF() and between the parentheses insert the start date, then the end date, followed by the unit of measurement (“D” for days, “M” for months, or “Y” for years) and voila!

2. Make sure you are collecting real email addresses

If you send out forms to collect email addresses, the first thing you need to check is if they are real email addresses. Depending on how many you collect, verifying each one manually can be extremely tedious. Cut out the busy work by using the ISEMAIL() function and inserting the email address between the parentheses.

3. Create hundreds of new email addresses in seconds

If you are creating new email addresses for users on your Google Apps domain, you can easily find the hours in your day winding down. Using a spreadsheet, this task can be done in just a few seconds. The CONCATENATE() function combines all the text from the cells inserted between the parentheses. To create new email addresses, enter all of your users’ first names or initials in one column, their last names in the next column, and then “@yourdomain” in a following column. Concatenate the columns and you’re done! You now have all your new email addresses ready to import.

4. Translate foreign languages

We often receive emails or video comments from people all over the world. Not being multilingual it can be tricky to understand them all. By entering GOOGLETRANSLATE() and selecting the text we want to translate, followed by its original language and then the language we wish to translate it into, we can use our spreadsheet as a virtual foreign language dictionary.

5. Pull live stock market data into a Google Sheet

Although we are not financial analysts, we do like to follow the markets. With the GOOGLEFINANCE() function, you can use Google Sheets to easily keep up with several different financial metrics. This video will show you how to pull real time and historical stock market data directly into a Google Sheet.