The TEXT function

The TEXT function is a text function which enables users to force the input of their choosing into the text format of their choosing. This could be a date forced into a specific format, or a number where a specific amount of leading or trailing zeros are required.

This is the format of the TEXT function:

=TEXT(Input Cell, Output Format)

Here is an example of the TEXT function:

=TEXT(1, “000.00”) = 001.00

This function is valuable when needing to present information in a way which may not be natively available without your spreadsheet application, or which otherwise does not translate well into text strings. Date and Time values are very susceptible to these manipulations.

An example of a functional implementation of this would be if you are generating an invoice reminder for clients. In this reminder you note the date the invoice has been sent, when it is due, and what the penalties are for non-compliance. All of this is done through a set of paragraphs which have been organized to be emailed out to clients. The dates do not work in your existing formula as they only return the integer date value and not the date itself. To fix this you use the TEXT function.

=TEXT(43955, “YYYY-MMMM-DD”)