The average function calculates the arithmetic mean of numbers provided to it. In this case, those numbers could be hard-coded numbers. They could be names, ranges, or cell references. I,e. links to cells with numbers in. If text is provided to it, it does create an error and the average ignores empty cells. Let's have a look at this in Excel.

In this example, we have got a number of transactions made by a number of different salespeople, and I'd like to find out the average number of units that have been sold in each transaction.

So if I go down to the bottom to G16 and type equals average open brackets, I'll use my mouse to select the cells I want. So G5, click and drag down to G15 and enter. I can see the average number of units sold was 48.3.

I could do exactly the same for the sale amount. So again, equals average open. This time I'll use my mouse to select the numbers. So up arrow, shift up arrow, again, close and enter. The average sale amount was 146.9.

This could help me with my future planning and can help me work out what my average sales this month were compared to average sales a year ago.