ROUND in SoftMaker PlanMaker: nearest-value rounding with examples
Learn ROUND(Number,n) in PlanMaker with positive/negative decimal-place examples, financial rounding stages and errors.
Verification status: Official documentation referenced; example outcomes independently reasoned or arithmetically checked where stated. Not executed in SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026. How formula examples are checked
Quick answer: =ROUND(B2,C2) lets you round a numeric value to the nearest specified decimal place. In the exact worksheet below, its expected result is 12.34. The result is independently calculated, not observed from a native PlanMaker execution.
Purpose and when to use it
ROUND rounds a number to the nearest value at the precision you choose. Use n=2 for two decimals, n=0 for a whole number, and n=-2 for hundreds. When n is omitted, the manual says PlanMaker rounds to an integer.
Choose the rounding policy deliberately: ROUND is nearest, ROUNDUP moves away from zero and ROUNDDOWN moves toward zero. They differ around fractional values and some negative numbers; simply displaying fewer decimal places is not equivalent to changing stored values. The SoftMaker 2026 formatting guide distinguishes display formatting from calculation results.
Exact documented syntax and argument definitions
=ROUND(Number, n)
This is the exact English argument order in the 2026 manual. The help page shows two arguments but explicitly allows omitting n:
=ROUND(Number)
| Argument | Required? | Type and meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Number |
Yes | Numeric value, formula or reference that evaluates to a number. | B2 (12.344) |
n |
Optional (documented omission) | Desired decimal-place position: 2 = hundredths, 0 = whole number, -2 = hundreds. The official documentation expects a decimal-place count; use an integer in these examples. | C2 (2) |
Default when omitted: n = 0 in effect (round to an integer), according to the official 2021/2024/2026 descriptions. Noninteger n, overlarge magnitudes and every possible text-coercion rule were not tested, so do not infer support from Excel.
Source: 2026 ROUND function reference. The comma and decimal point in the examples follow the English-language manual; for other locales, confirm the installed input syntax and decimal separator.
Reproducible sample worksheet
Enter the following complete sample data, including the row-1 headings. B and C are ordinary numeric cells, not formatted strings.
| Cell | A: Scenario | B: Number | C: Decimal places (n) | D: Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 2 | Unit price | 12.344 | 2 | 3 |
| Row 3 | Halfway example | 1.235 | 2 | 4 |
| Row 4 | Negative adjustment | -7.8 | 0 | 1 |
| Row 5 | Large amount | 888.999 | -2 | 2 |
| Row 6 | Partial unit | 4.01 | 0 | 1 |
| Row 7 | Bulk cost | 444.222 | -2 | 1 |
- Open an empty worksheet in your copy of PlanMaker; enter headers in
A1:D1and the values inA2:D7exactly as displayed. Enter the entries in column B as numeric values, not strings beginning with an apostrophe. - Enter the example formula in a free cell such as
F2, outside the input range, and press Enter. - Compare the value displayed by your installation against the expected result below. The expected result is calculated independently from the printed data and checked against the official described behaviour; it is not a screenshot or a native PlanMaker test.
- Copy the appropriate follow-up formula to another empty cell (such as
F3) to test the negative-value or negative-decimal-place case.
First formula and expected result
=ROUND(B2,C2)
Expected: 12.34. B2 contains 12.344 and C2 contains 2: rounding 12.344 to two decimal places gives 12.34.
Second formula and expected result
=ROUND(B3,C3)
Expected: 1.24. The 1.235 halfway example rounds to 1.24; the official PlanMaker 2026 manual explicitly prints that exact result.
Further self-checks
| Formula | Expected result | Why |
|---|---|---|
=ROUND(B4,C4) |
-8 |
-7.8 rounded to the nearest integer |
=ROUND(B5,C5) |
900 |
-2 decimal places mean hundreds |
=ROUND(B6) |
4 |
Omitted n rounds to an integer |
=ROUND(B7,C7) |
400 |
444.222 rounded to the nearest hundred |
Every output in this table is an expected value, not a captured application result. The official function page supplies the relevant rounding definitions and selected example outcomes; the other values were calculated independently using decimal arithmetic.
Advanced practical application
Advanced scenario: choosing when to round an invoice line
Suppose you sell 3 units at an unrounded unit price of 12.344 (cells B2 and D2). Compare these two formulas in separate result cells:
=ROUND(B2*D2,2)
Expected: 37.03. The exact arithmetic before rounding is 12.344 × 3 = 37.032; nearest two-decimal rounding gives 37.03.
=ROUND(B2,2)*D2
Expected: 37.02. Rounding the unit price first gives 12.34 × 3 = 37.02.
Neither approach is automatically the right invoicing policy. Follow your organization’s accounting rules for when to round; the point here is that changing the stage of rounding changes the result. For display only, use cell number formatting instead of changing the underlying number.
Common mistakes and limitations
Do not confuse ROUND with always rounding up: 12.344 at two decimals becomes 12.34, but 1.235 becomes 1.24. For deliberate upward or downward rounding, choose ROUNDUP or ROUNDDOWN.
Never confuse a rounding direction with a rounding display format. If you need an exact monetary policy, fractional storage rules and the location of the rounding step must be reviewed against your requirements. The function is useful for clean decimal-place operations, not evidence of accounting-law compliance.
Troubleshooting, errors and limits
- Formula shown as text: ensure the formula begins with
=and the destination cell is not in a text-only entry mode. PlanMaker requires the equals sign for calculations. - Unexpected displayed decimals: changing the number format may round only the display. A rounding formula changes the numeric result. Do not mistake the display setting for the operation being performed.
- Unexpected negative result: understand toward zero versus away from zero before using these functions for negative quantities. Neither rule is identical to mathematical floor/ceiling for both signs.
- Formula rejected or
#NULL!: check the exact function name, commas/parentheses, arguments and unusual quotation marks. SoftMaker identifies#NULL!as one of the results of unknown functions or invalid argument counts. #VALUE!: check nonnumeric source values or incompatible argument types; PlanMaker documents this as an invalid-value/type error in its general error list. The exact error for a particular malformed input was not tested here.- Broken referenced range /
#REF!: verify that original cells were not deleted or moved; this error is documented for invalid references. - Precision/rounding expectations: binary numeric representation and PlanMaker document-level rounding settings can influence calculations. This batch does not establish all edge cases for enormous values, arbitrary fractional
n, or ties after complex floating-point operations. Test boundary data natively before relying on it in production.
Official troubleshooting references: PlanMaker 2026 error values, entering formulas, number formatting, and Calculate document settings.
Availability by release, platform and edition
The official 2021, 2024, and 2026 English-language PlanMaker reference pages each document this named function and the same main Number, n argument order. The manuals describe omission of n and negative n values. This confirms documented availability in those releases, not the first release ever to implement the function. The 2026 manual describes the wider Windows/macOS/Linux/Android/iOS product family, but this guide does not establish execution in every edition, mobile app, licence or platform. Native PlanMaker 2021/2024/2026 runtime tests were not performed.
These references use English decimal-point examples and comma-separated function arguments. PlanMaker’s numeric decimal separator can follow computer regional settings or a custom setting. If copied formulas fail in a different locale, first check the input and function editor rather than assuming that every separator convention is interchangeable. Official 2026 settings reference.
Official release-specific references: PlanMaker 2021 ROUND, PlanMaker 2024 ROUND, and PlanMaker 2026 ROUND.
Compatibility and migration to other spreadsheets
Microsoft Excel uses ROUND(number,num_digits) for ordinary rounding and its sign/precision intent corresponds to this PlanMaker function. The SoftMaker 2026 manual does not give a per-platform guarantee of identical binary-number edge cases in every program. Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc also offer ROUND, but verify their local separators and data import types. PlanMaker documents the core result examples above rather than all cross-software numeric edge cases.
Official reference and verification
- SoftMaker PlanMaker — function documentation
- SoftMaker 2026 formatting guide
- PlanMaker 2026 error values
- entering formulas
- Calculate document settings
- Official 2026 settings reference
- PlanMaker 2021 ROUND
Verification status: Official documentation checked; example outcomes were independently reasoned or arithmetically checked where applicable. Not executed in SoftMaker PlanMaker.
- No genuine SoftMaker PlanMaker screenshots are included; this guide does not use mock application images.