Articles on: Building Calculators

How to Convert Your Excel Pricing Formula to Custom Price Calculator

If you have been pricing in Excel or Google Sheets, you do not have to start from scratch. Most of what you already write works, with two differences worth knowing before you begin.

What stays the same

In your spreadsheet	In CPC
`+` `-` `*` `/` and parentheses	the same
`IF(condition, a, b)`	`if(condition, a, b)`
`MIN(a, b)` and `MAX(a, b)`	`min(a, b)` and `max(a, b)`
`AND(...)` and `OR(...)`	`and(...)` and `or(...)`
`ROUNDUP(Width, 0)`	`ceil(Width)`
`ROUNDDOWN(Width, 0)`	`floor(Width)`
`>` `<` `>=` `<=` `=` `<>`	the same, and `==` and `!=` also work
Cell references like `B2`	your element names, like `Width`

Conditions can be nested inside one another, exactly as they can in a spreadsheet.

What is different

Cells become element names. B2 becomes Width — whatever you called the element. The name must match its label's spelling, spaces and punctuation; capitals do not have to match. A name that does not match its label is the single most common reason a formula will not save.

There is no ROUND. Set Formula Output Decimals to 2 in the calculator's settings and the price displays to two places. ceil() and floor() are still there for rounding to whole units of material.

There is no ABS or POW, and no ^. If your sheet raises something to a power, get in touch — there is usually another way to express it.

One calculation cannot reference another. In a spreadsheet you build a result across several cells. Here, write the whole expression out in one formula.

Convert a formula, step by step

Take a spreadsheet formula:

= 25 + (B2 * B3 * 12)

B2 is the width the customer enters, B3 the length, 12 your price per square foot, 25 a base fee.

Create two Number Input elements named Width and Length, then write:

25 + (Width * Length * 12)

That is the whole conversion: swap the cell references for element names.

A conditional example

= IF(B4 > 100, B4 * 0.9, B4)

becomes

if(Quantity > 100, Quantity * 0.9, Quantity)

A 10% discount over 100 units. Same shape, lowercase function name, element name instead of the cell.

A longer one

= 50 + ((B2 / ROUNDDOWN(320 / (B3 + 6), 0)) * (B4 + 6) / 1000) * B5

Map each cell to an element — BaseMeasurement, Dimension1, Dimension2, Quantity — and swap ROUNDDOWN for floor:

50 + ((BaseMeasurement / floor(320 / (Dimension1 + 6))) * (Dimension2 + 6) / 1000) * Quantity

Tips

Name elements clearly. Width beats input1 when you come back to the formula in six months.

Test with numbers you already know. Run the same values through your sheet and the calculator; the results should match exactly.

Let the field help you. Click into the formula box and it suggests functions and element names as you type, with a hint showing which argument you are on. If you would rather describe the pricing than write it, the same field offers a route into Calcy, the AI builder.

Parentheses are free. When the order of operations is not obvious, add them.

Updated on: 20/08/2026

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