How to use an IF statement over several cells?

Question

I'm making a budget for myself. Currently, my Google Spreadsheets looks something like this:

----A---- -----B----    
     food         50
  alcohol         20
     food        120
    dance         10
   garden         20
     food         20
    dance         10

I would like to get the total amounts like this:

----E---- -----E---- 
     food        190
  alcohol         20
    dance         20
   garden         20

I can use an IF statement on a single cell so the IF statement would be:

=if(A1="food",B1,0)

but how do I do it over several cells and SUM values together?

Is there a function that allows me to calculate the total value of column B if column A is equal to "some text"?

Answer 1

This is best done like this:

Formula

1. =QUERY(DATA!A:B;"SELECT A, SUM(B) WHERE B IS NOT NULL GROUP BY A")
2. =QUERY(DATA!A:B;"SELECT A, SUM(B) WHERE B IS NOT NULL GROUP BY A Label SUM(B)'Units'")

Explained

If you include headers, then the QUERY function will add them as such and alter them accordingly, ie. SUM title or COUNT title....etc. You can also added a custom label to the calculated columns, see 2^nd example (3^rd sheet). The rest of the function will perform as standard SQL.

Example

I've created an example file for you: sum over several cells

References

1. SQL
2. QUERY formula
3. Query Language Reference
4. Question with same techniques used

Answer 2

You ask for an IF statement but have accepted an A that does not require that so may wish to consider a pivot table. The coding for this is "behind the scenes", so no formula or function is necessary:

The row sorting is a 'bonus' and usually convenient but it does mean more work would be required if to order the output exactly as you show, for example with:

=sort(E2:F5,2,false)

(if the pivot table is moved into E2:F6 as shown).

For as simple an example as you show further versatility would be of little use but with a larger data set other features of a pivot table might be appreciated and could involve no more than an additional few clicks. For example how many of each A value (eg in the case of food here 3), or the average of B by each A value (eg in the case of dance here 10).