Help defining named ranges

[kcin]

Hello,

I'm really not sure how to describe exactly what I'm trying to do but I'll give it my best shot.

I have a worksheet with some data that I collect from another source and subsequently create a graph with. The data contains company names in column A, and a corresponding value in column B. Now different companies belong to different categories from which I would like to group up and calculate averages with. So what I would like to do is be able to assign each company name to its "group" and then be able to use the formula:

=AVERAGE(Group1) and so forth

Currently the way I am calculating the averages is by putting a "1" in column C for companies that belong to group 1, and then using an IF formula in column D to only show values for companies with a "1". Then I can see just the average for those companies.

So what I want to be able to do is select several companies from Column A and their corresponding value in Column B and name the entire set as a group. Then in Column B I can just use the average formula with the named range. I will have to use multiple selections for the range as well as the list is in alphabetical order.

I know there has to be a much easier way of doing this so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KenMillard]

Does the version of excel you're working with have pivot tables? If so, that's probably your best bet.