LCM in SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026: Least Common Multiple with Examples

The least common multiple of two or more positive integers is the smallest positive integer divisible by each one with no remainder. This is useful for finding when different repeating intervals align, choosing a common denominator, and grouping work into a shared time step. LCM is not the largest common divisor: that is GCD, its mathematical counterpart. For example, 6 and 8 both divide 24; they do not both divide 12. Hence their LCM is 24, while their GCD is only 2.

PlanMaker’s native function is named LCM, not LEASTCOMMONMULTIPLE, LCM.MATH, or a localized alias invented for this tutorial. The English 2026 A–Z catalogue lists LCM with no documented alternate function name. Official 2026 manual.

• First introduced: Original introduction version is not established. LCM is documented by PlanMaker 2021; that is the earliest release checked here, not proof it was added in 2021.
• Current documented status: Supported in the PlanMaker 2026 English reference, whose manual portal also covers NX. The 2026 function reference remains available; this is documentation evidence, not an installed-app result.
• Last supported version / retirement: No retirement or final supported version is established. Supported in 2026 must not be read as “2026 was the last functioning version.”
• Version checks: The named function and input rules were checked in the separate 2021, 2024, and 2026 help entries. These checks do not establish support in every intervening build or FreeOffice licence tier.
• Platforms and editions: No Windows, macOS, Linux, Android or iOS execution was performed. Check the function in the installed edition before relying on platform-specific behaviour or exported workbooks.
• Evidence checked: October 14, 2026 UTC. Native tests: none. Examples are independently calculated expectations. No replacement is required by the checked current reference.

=LCM(Number1 [, Number2, Number3 ...])

The brackets indicate an optional list, not characters to type into the spreadsheet. The first numeric argument is mandatory; further numbers are optional. The commas above follow SoftMaker’s English-language manual notation. You may supply positive numeric constants, cells, and a compatible referenced range, such as A1:A3. The arguments are symmetric: for positive integers, changing their order does not affect the mathematical LCM.

Input restriction: SoftMaker states all supplied values must be ≥ 1. The manual requests integers and says fractional portions are truncated automatically; for example, the mathematical expected result of =LCM(6.9,8.2) after truncation is 24, because the inputs become 6 and 8. SoftMaker does not document a maximum number of arguments on this function’s entry; do not assume Excel’s documented 255-item limit is also PlanMaker’s limit. 2026 definition and input rules.

Locale: The example formulas use the comma separators shown in the English manual and . as a decimal point. If your installed locale presents other separators, adapt them according to PlanMaker’s own formula assistant/settings; do not use separators taken from an unrelated program. Check the entered expression in the formula line. A single cell-reference form =LCM(A2:A4) avoids a multi-argument delimiter. The PDF describes region-dependent number formatting, but its LCM entry does not establish an exhaustive locale-by-locale syntax table.

In a blank workbook, put Interval A in A1, Interval B in B1, LCM formula in C1, and Expected LCM in D1. Type the numbers from the table into columns A and B. Type the indicated expression in each corresponding cell in C2:C11, and compare with the independently calculated expected result listed in column D. D is a reference/check column, not a formula output automatically produced by a supplied file.

These examples are intentionally all within the manufacturer’s documented positive-integer domain. If you see a text-like formula rather than a number, confirm the initial = and that the cell is not formatted or entered as literal text. If the displayed output is formatted differently, compare its underlying numeric value, not its punctuation.

1. Type 4 into A1, 8 into A2, and 6 into A3 of a separate blank sheet.
2. In B1 enter =LCM(A1:A3).
3. The official documented result is 24. The source explicitly permits cell references/ranges and supplies this same three-cell scenario. PlanMaker 2026.

A three-argument constant alternative is =LCM(4,8,6), whose mathematically expected answer is also 24. A referenced range becomes more maintainable when intervals change, provided the range contains only suitable values. A stray blank, a text value, or a zero requires separate checking; the manufacturer’s brief LCM entry does not specify every such case’s exact error.

Suppose a quality-control cycle repeats every 12 minutes, while a packaging machine reports every 18 minutes, and both start together at minute zero. Put 12 in A2, 18 in B2 and =LCM(A2,B2) in C2. The independently calculated expected result is 36: both events recur together after 36 minutes, then at 72, 108 and so on, assuming perfectly regular cycles.

Real systems may have offsets, missed events or non-integer intervals, so an LCM formula alone does not model their timestamps. If the tasks start at different offsets, use a timetable with actual start times rather than assuming an LCM of periods answers the offset problem.

A worksheet needs a common denominator for fractions with denominators 6, 9, and 15. The expected output of =LCM(6,9,15) is 90: 90/6=15, 90/9=10 and 90/15=6, so each fraction can be converted to an equivalent fraction with denominator 90. This does not add the fractions for you; it only supplies the common denominator. Keep each numerator paired with the appropriate scaling factor.

For two positive integers, there is a useful check:

LCM(a,b) * GCD(a,b) = a * b

For 12 and 18, independently computed LCM 36 times GCD 6 equals 216, exactly 12×18. The PlanMaker manual documents both function names and links LCM to GCD. See the GCD definition (2026); this identity is a mathematical check, not evidence that our combined worksheet was executed in the application.

For a production line with three task intervals (say 8, 12 and 30 minutes), =LCM(8,12,30) has expected result 120. Before applying a schedule, confirm the values represent the same unit: 8 seconds is not interchangeable with 8 minutes. Large relatively prime inputs can lead to large LCMs quickly, which may exceed numeric precision in a spreadsheet. The PlanMaker function entry does not state its numeric overflow/precision threshold; test the exact production ranges natively rather than importing Excel’s limit.

A practical way to check an LCM result R is to divide R by each input and verify the quotient is an integer. =LCM(7,11) has expected result 77; 77/7=11 and 77/11=7. A much larger positive common multiple would also be divisible, but would not be the least one.

The official PlanMaker 2026 manual and PlanMaker 2024 manual both document the name, optional trailing values, ≥1 restriction and integer truncation. This is evidence that the function is documented in both desktop-era releases, not that we ran it in any particular paid, free or mobile edition. The PDF is linked from the vendor’s SoftMaker Office NX / 2026 manuals section, which also lists a separate 2024 manual. It mentions multiple operating-system versions elsewhere, but our research does not verify identical execution across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS or FreeOffice.

Microsoft’s separately maintained Excel LCM reference documents LCM(number1, [number2], ...), truncation, a maximum of 255 Excel arguments, and an Excel-specific limit where LCM ≥ 2^53 causes #NUM!. These numerical limits belong to Excel documentation, and cannot be silently attributed to PlanMaker. Excel documents a #NUM! rule for negative numbers; PlanMaker explicitly requires all values ≥1. Their function names and ordinary positive-integer mathematics match on paper, but this is not an XLSX import/export guarantee. Save a test workbook, recalculate in each target installed version and compare results before migration.

• PlanMaker 2026 LCM: exact syntax, domain and worked examples — primary vendor citation.
• PlanMaker 2024 LCM: version cross-check — earlier documentation of the input rules.
• PlanMaker 2026 GCD: greatest common divisor — inverse number-theory companion.
• Microsoft Excel LCM (independent product evidence) — Excel semantics only.
• SoftMaker’s official English manual index — release documentation discovery.