EVEN in SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026: round up to even integers

• Introduced: Documented by PlanMaker 2016; the original introduction version is not established.
• Availability: Documented in PlanMaker 2026, with matching syntax in the 2024 reference. This is not a final working-version endpoint.
• Scope: The current reference belongs to the 2026/NX manual family; FreeOffice and individual mobile-build availability are not established here.
• Checked: October 14, 2026, against the official function reference. Documentation and independent calculation; no native test.

EVEN returns an even integer (divisible by two) that is at least as far from zero as the input. It does not merely display the input without decimals: the returned value changes numerically. That makes it appropriate for two-per-row packaging, pairing resources, allocating an even number of seats, or rounding a planned dimension to an even count.

For example, a 43-seat requirement cannot be accommodated by 21 complete two-seat rows. =EVEN(43) gives 44 seats and =EVEN(43)/2 gives 22 full rows. If demand is already 44, the output remains 44, so the calculation does not buy an unnecessary extra pair.

The direction is away from zero. A negative adjustment of -43 becomes -44, not -42. Do not silently interpret negative adjustments as floor or ceiling in the usual mathematical sense. This matters when subtracting allowances, recording inventory corrections, or allocating a signed number of units: enlarging the negative magnitude may be the wrong business rule. SoftMaker’s own example documents the sign convention.

=EVEN(Number)

The 2026 and 2024 manuals show EVEN(Number) with one parameter and no optional bracketed arguments. Do not supply a second significance or precision argument; use a different rounding function when an arbitrary multiple or decimal position is needed. PlanMaker ROUNDUP has a different argument contract.

For a positive, nonzero input x, the mathematical model is 2 × CEILING(|x|/2), where CEILING here refers to the mathematical integer-ceiling operation, not a promise about PlanMaker’s separately signed CEILING function. For negative x, put the minus sign back on that even magnitude. This model explains the row-level expected results below. This model covers the ordinary nonzero numeric inputs used here.

On a blank sheet, enter Scenario, Input, Formula, Expected numeric result, Check in A1:E1. Enter the descriptive scenario in A, the printed numeric input in B, and the indicated formula in C for rows 2–9. Enter the independently calculated expected result into column D as a numeric constant—not a formula referring to C. Then put =ABS(C2-D2)<0.000000001 in E2 and fill it through E9. Expected E outputs are TRUE only if the installed program agrees with all the arithmetic results.

What the table demonstrates: integer values that are already even remain unchanged; odd integers increase in magnitude to the next even integer; positive and negative decimal values round to an even integer, not simply to their ordinary nearest integer. The 0.2 and -0.2 rows make this distinction especially visible. Negative results should retain a minus sign in both the formula output and its expected numeric value.

1. How many two-person benches or two-item packages?

Set H2 = 43 participants and H3 = 2 participants per bench. =EVEN(H2) yields 44 allocated places; =EVEN(H2)/H3 yields 22 benches. For 44 participants, the number of benches remains 22. This use case assumes benches have exactly two usable seats. If benches have 3, 4 or a variable capacity, this formula is the wrong rounding instrument; model the capacity explicitly.

If H2 = 1.5 represents expected demand, =EVEN(H2) mathematically yields 2. A fractional person cannot be physically seated, so an actual workflow should establish whether H2 represents counted people, capacity forecasts, or another unit before applying any rounding function.

2. Convert a measured panel width into even-position symmetry

Suppose a layout needs an even number of equally spaced slots to avoid a single central slot. Let H2 = 17.1 be the minimum slot count computed from width and minimum spacing. =EVEN(H2) has expected result 18, divisible into 9 positions per side using =EVEN(H2)/2. With H2 = 18 the result is still 18. This calculation controls only the number of positions, not their physical spacing.

3. Check that a proposed answer really is even

For rows containing strictly numeric, integral outputs, =MOD(C2,2)=0 can serve as a parity check if the installed function supports MOD as documented. The MOD guide explains the remainder calculation. Pair the parity check with =ABS(C2)>=ABS(B2) to test the away-from-zero property. An even result that is much larger than necessary could satisfy both checks, so compare against column D to verify the smallest qualifying even magnitude.

The SoftMaker EVEN entry links to ODD, ROUNDUP, ROUND, MROUND, TRUNC, CEILING and FLOOR as separate operations.

• Wrong parity: EVEN changes the value to an even integer; ROUNDUP(Number,0) only rounds to an integer. Check the function name and the cell reference copied down each row.
• Negative result looks lower: The direction is away from zero. Compare magnitudes rather than ordinary signed order.
• Formula rejected: Supply exactly one numeric argument and a leading =. Localized names and decimal marks may differ; use the installed function assistant when adapting the examples.
• Zero, blank, text, logical or extreme inputs: The brief PlanMaker entry does not specify every boundary or coercion case. The examples deliberately avoid assigning undocumented error codes or a zero-input result.
• Only the display changed: Reducing visible decimal places does not perform numeric rounding. Keep the original input and the formula result in separate cells.

Microsoft’s Excel EVEN reference describes the same one-argument operation and signed rounding direction. Its nonnumeric-input error rule belongs to Excel; this comparison does not establish PlanMaker’s coercion, zero-input convention or workbook round-trip behavior. Validate those cases in the receiving application when moving a workbook.

For decimal places, see ROUND, ROUNDUP and ROUNDDOWN. For nearest-multiple rounding, see MROUND.

• PlanMaker 2026 — EVEN: current function definition and vendor examples.
• PlanMaker 2024 — EVEN: earlier documented syntax.
• PlanMaker 2016 manual: historical function entry, page 523.

Example verification: Expected values were calculated independently using exact decimal and rational arithmetic. No PlanMaker or Excel application execution is claimed. Vendor-documented errors are distinguished from input cases whose behavior still needs a native check.