To compare two values, the Logicaltest uses a comparison operator between the values.

Former Lifewire writer Ted French is a Microsoft Certified Professional who teaches and writes about spreadsheets and spreadsheet programs.

The usefulness of the IF function is extended by inserting, or nesting, multiple IF functions inside each other.

Nested IF functions increase the number of possible conditions that are tested for and increase the number of actions that are taken to deal with these outcomes.

For even further possible conditions tested it is best to use the IF, AND, and OR functions.

As shown in the image, this tutorial uses two IF functions to create a formula that calculates an annual deduction amount for employees based on their yearly salary.

The nested IF function acts as the valueiffalse argument for the first IF function.

The different parts of the formula are separated by commas and carry out the following tasks.

If the salary is greater than 30,000, the second IF function IF(D750000,D5D7,D4D7) tests two further conditions.

If the salary is equal to or greater than 50,000, D5D7 multiplies the salary by the deduction rate of 10.

If the salary is less than 50,000 but greater than 30,000, D4D7 multiplies the salary by the deduction rate of 8.

Enter the data into cells C1 to E6 of an Excel worksheet as seen in the image.

The only data not entered at this point is the IF function itself located in cell E7.

Your worksheet may look different than the example shown, but the IF function will give you the same results.

However, if you are using a desktop version of Excel, it is often easier to use the functions dialog box to enter the necessary arguments.

Using the dialog box is a bit trickier when entering nested functions because the nested function must be typed in.

A second dialog box cannot be opened to enter the second set of arguments.

In this example, the nested IF function is entered into the third line of the dialog box as the Valueiffalse argument.

Since the worksheet calculates the annual deduction for several employees, the formula is first entered into cell E7 using absolute cell references for the deduction rates and then copied to cells E8:E11.

Select Formulas. Select Logical to open the function drop-down list.

The data entered into the blank lines in the dialog box form the arguments of the IF function.

These arguments tell the function the condition being tested and what actions to take if the condition is true or false.

Or, follow through the next steps that offer detailed instructions and explanations for entering the three arguments.

This data can be numbers, cell references, the results of formulas, or even text data.

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